Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Wednesday 5 May 1993

Home Department

Prison Service

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total cost, including redundancy payments, incurred by his Department as a result of the abandonment of the prison service supply and transport market test.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. John McAllion, dated 4 May 1993:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your Question about the costs incurred as a result of the abandonment of the Prison Service supply and transport market test.

In July 1992 approval was given for the award of a contract, subject to negotiation of satisfactory terms and consultation with the TUS, to Beck and Pollitzer for the operation of the warehousing and distribution function of the Prison Service Supply and Transport Branch. The operative date of the contract was to be 1 April 1993.

At the time of this decision, it was anticipated that all staff working in the function would be made redundant, although some might be re-employed by Beck and Pollitzer. The estimated redundancy payments for all the staff were £875,000.

As it was not possible to negotiate a satisfactory contract with Beck and Pollitzer, a 3-year service level agreement was awarded to the next best bid, the in-house bid. Staff, who had received redundancy notices in September 1992, were given the option of accepting redundancy or agreeing to the withdrawal of the redundancy notice. Redundancy payments to those who decided to accept redundancy were £620,000.

The Prison Service did not incur any other costs as a result of the abandonment of the market test.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what contract was awarded to Beck and Politzer following the abandonment of the prison service supply and transport market test; whether it was a result of a competitive tendering exercise; and whether an in-house bid was permitted.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Derek Lewis to Mr. John McAllion, dated 4 May 1993:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the contract awarded to Beck and Politzer.

Following the decision to award a 3-year service level agreement for the in-house management of the Prison Service Supply and Transport warehousing and distribution function, a 1-year consultancy contract was agreed with Beck and Politzer to provide the in-house management team with advice and assistance in achieving operational and administrative improvements to the function.

A great deal of preparatory work was carried out by Beck and Politzer in the seven months from the original decision to award them the contract for the management of the function up to the decision to retain the work in-house and this latter decision was made only 4 weeks before the operative date of 1 April 1993. There was therefore not time to arrange for competitive tendering, nor would it have been practical for either another contractor or an in-house team to act as consultants, as the new computer systems to be used after I April for stock control and distribution planning were based on the original Beck and Politzer proposal. They were therefore the only organisation capable of providing the necessary consultancy advice.

The agreement reached with Beck and Politzer is an example of the private sector working closely with the public sector to enhance services quality and provide value for money.

Prison Transport

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what requirements are laid down on how meals are to be provided by Group 4 to prisoners being held in court and police cells while awaiting or during trial; and if these will be hot meals.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:

In the absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what requirements are laid down on how meals are to be provided by Group 4 to prisoners being held in court and police cells whilst awaiting or during trial; and if these will be hot meals.

The contract with Group 4 Court Services Limited requires the contractor to feed all prisoners who are in its custody at any time between the hours of 1100 and 1400. The lunchtime meal need not be regarded as the main meal of the day, but should be such as to sustain the prisoner until he or she is escorted to the prison or otherwise dealt with. Fresh drinking water should be available to prisoners on request throughout the day. This is in line with guidance to Governors in respect of prisoners held at courts staffed by the Prison Service. Breakfast and tea meals will ordinarily be given either by the police or Prison Service as appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost currently paid by the prison service for each new cellular van to be constructed.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:

In the temporary absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your Question about the cost paid by the Prison Service for new cellular vans.

The last cellular van purchased by the Prison Service was in July 1991, for a 14-cell van with air-conditioning, at a total cost of £50,667 exclusive of VAT. The last 12-cell van was purchased in September 1990 at a total cost of £47,275 exclusive of VAT. Air-conditioning was fitted to this van in July 1991 at an additional cost of £7,173 exclusive of VAT.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the location, date, list of injuries and cost of repairs incurred in road accidents in 1990, 1991 and 1992 involving (a) cellular vans and (b) other means of transporting prisoners (i) in England and Wales and (ii) in the east midlands and Humberside area.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:

In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the transport of prisoners.

Only a relatively small number of prisoner movements are by cellular vehicle. In fact the use of cellular vehicles by the Prison Service only began in 1990 and so far only 26 are in use. Apart from those prisoners conveyed by Group 4 most prisoners are escorted to magistrates' courts and the Crown Court, and between establishments, by Prison Service staff but using contract hire taxis and coaches. Movements from magistrates' courts to prisons are undertaken by the police using their vehicles. (In some areas, eg in London, the police also convey prisoners to magistrates' courts, but are paid for this service by the Prison Service.) We do not therefore have the information with which to answer your question.

We do however have information on the amount spent on repairs, and in settlement of third party claims, in respect of accidents involving Prison Service cellular vehicles. The only years for which the information is complete are 1990 (when these vehicles first began to be used by the Prison Service) and 1991. The information is as follows:

	All areas	East Midlands and Humberside
	£	£
1990	264	nil
1991	2,354·50	618

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoner custody officers are employed by Group 4 Court Escort Services Ltd.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:

In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of prisoner custody officers employed by Group 4 Court Escort Services Ltd.

Group 4 currently have 288 staff employed to undertake prisoner custody officer duties as part of the court escort service in the East Midlands and Humberside.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the running costs incurred during 1992 for transporting prisoners in the east midlands and Humberside area; and if he will give a breakdown of the costs.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:

In the absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the running costs incurred during 1992 for transporting prisoners in the East Midlands and Humberside area.

Our estimate of the operational staff costs in 1993–94 prices is £9·0 million. This excludes overheads, vehicle costs, catering and medical support. Neither the Prison Service nor the police can readily identify these additional costs. By contrast the total cost under the contract is £8·1 million (excluding VAT, which is reclaimable). This sum contains the cost of administrative and management back-up, together with costs of catering, medical support, accommodation (headquarters, control centre and vehicle bases), vehicles and IT. Of the £9·0 million, £6·0 million is attributable to police costs, and £2·8 million to Prison Service costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoner transport movements were made in the east midlands and Humberside area during 1992.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:

In the temporary absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General from the office, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number of prisoner transport movements made in the East Midlands and Humberside area during 1992.

Data on prisoner movements is not collected centrally. Survey work conducted last summer indicated an annual rate in the area of about 50,000 prisoner movements from police stations and prisons to courts. More detailed data for 1993 will become available in due course from the contractor's management information system.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the number and types of vehicles Group 4 has in its fleet for transporting prisoners under the private escort service in the east midlands and Humberside.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 4 May 1993:

In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to write to you directly in reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about Group 4's fleet of vehicles for the court escort service in the East Midlands and Humberside.

Group 4 are using 70 vehicles, of which 57 are cellular vehicles, three are personnel carriers and 10 saloon cars.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the cost in (a) money and (b) man hours of retaking prisoners who escape while in the charge of Group 4 personnel.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Mr. David Young, dated 4 May 1993:

In the absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the cost and man hours involved in the re-taking of prisoners who have escaped from the custody of Group 4 personnel.

The nature and circumstances of incidents of escapes differ widely from one case to the next and the Prison Service is not charged for costs incurred in recapturing prisoners. The information requested is not, therefore, available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the contract with Group 4 to provide prisoner escort services contains penalty clauses; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I.Dunbar to Mr. David Young, dated 4 May 1993:

In the absence of Mr. Lewis, the Director General, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about penalty clauses in the contract with Group 4 Court Services Ltd. for the provision of the court escort service in the East Midlands and Humberside.

The contract with Group 4 contains mechanisms which allow adjustments to payments to be made in the event of circumstances occurring which fall outside the terms of the contract. Where a material failure is caused by circumstances within the contractor's control and is not corrected within 20 days of it being brought to his attention, the Prison Service may terminate the contract.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if it is his policy to allow male and female prisoners to travel in the same vehicle while being escorted to court; and if he will call for an investigation into an incident on Tuesday 20 April when a female prisoner was put with male prisoners in a vehicle operated by Group 4 Court Escort Services Ltd. with no female custody officer present.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from Mr. D. Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 5 May 1993:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply directly to your recent Parliamentary question about male and female prisoners being escorted in the same vehicle.

The Prison Service has no objection in principle to escorting male and female prisoners to court together as long as the escort is properly staffed and supervised. The contract with Group 4 requires the separation of male and female prisoners, but the Prison Service is content that such separation be achieved by placing prisoners in separate compartments of a cellular vehicle. Where it is judged in the prisoner's interest to be escorted rather than to await the arrival of a female PCO, a female prisoner may be escorted by male PCOs. The contract with Group 4 states that the general presumption will be that a female officer will accompany a female prisoner, and that escorts of females by male Prisoner Custody Officers will be very much the exception.

Prison Regime (Code Of Standards)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he is making with the establishment of a code of standards for the prison regime; when he expects the code to be ready for issue; what account he has taken of previous recommendations on the subject; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from I. Dunbar to Mr. Harry Green way, dated May 1993:

In the temporary absence of the Director General, Mr. Lewis, the Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about progress on establishing a code of standards for the Prison Service.

Following two public consultation seminars last year on the aims of a code of standards, drafting of the code is now well underway in the Prison Service. Standards are being drafted to reflect the Prison Service's responsibilities towards both the public and prisoners, and will take account of the views expressed in the Woolf Report, the Government White Paper "Custody, Care and Justice", and comments received during consultation.

The code will be published in December 1993.

Prison Education Service

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many redundancies he expects as a result of the tendering out of the prison education service.

The staff who provide education services in prison establishments are not employed by the prison service. Decisions on redundancy are a matter for the employer and it is not yet possible to quantify whether and to what extent staff currently employed in delivering education services in prisons may be made redundant following competitive tendering.

Fire Service, Wales

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures are being taken to improve the efficiency and response times of each fire service in Wales.

The Government are concerned to ensure that all fire authorities in Wales conform to the minimum nationally recommended standards of fire cover, and that they do so as efficiently and economically as possible. The primary responsibility for providing an efficient fire service rests with the fire authority and the chief officer of the fire brigade. Each brigade in Wales is inspected annually by Her Majesty's inspectorate of fire services to ensure that fire authorities are operating as efficiently as possible and continuing to meet acceptable standards of fire cover.

Neighbourhood Watch

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes exist in each county in Wales for each year since 1987.

Information on the number of neighbourhood watch schemes is recorded at police force level and so it is not possible to attribute schemes to individual Welsh counties. The number of schemes recorded by the police at the end of each year in question is given in the following table:

Neighbourhood watch schemes in Wales
	Number of neighbourhood watch schemes
Force	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
Dyfed-Powys	108	514	719	807	940	1,102
Gwent	3	10	17	22	35	113
North Wales	1,135	1,572	1,812	1,787	2,061	2,615
South Wales	500	510	638	546	821	1,141
Total	1,746	2,606	3,186	3,162	3,857	4,971

Victim Support

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the Government's policy for funding and supporting Victim Support.

The Government attach importance to the work of Victim Support in providing both practical help and advice and emotional support to victims of crime. There are currently about 380 branches and schemes with some 8,000 volunteer visitors covering 98 per cent. of the population of England and Wales. They handle about 800,000 cases a year.Home Office grant to the national charity Victim Support will amount to £8·4 million this year. This is an

Force As at 31 March 1979	Police strength	Civilian strength	Force population¹	Police authority/population ratio
Avon and Somerset	2,825	686	1,328,000	1:378
Bedfordshire	902	277	490,000	1:415
Cambridgeshire	1,064	302	564,000	1:413
Cheshire	1,778	397	914,000	1:420
Cleveland	1,334	308	569,000	1:363
Cumbria	1,056	250	474,000	1:363
Derbyshire	1,563	636	897,000	1:408
Devon and Cornwall	2,660	752	1,361,000	1:399
Dorset	1,128	281	583,000	1:414
Durham	1,312	505	608,000	1:335
Essex	2,461	686	1,357,000	1:431
Gloucestershire	1,076	231	493,000	1:377
Greater Manchester	6,419	1,415	2,675,000	1:341
Hampshire	2,949	698	1,564,000	1:429
Hertfordshire	1,462	370	799,000	1:436
Humberside	1,849	499	845,000	1:360
Kent	2,724	887	1,445,000	1:400
Lancashire	3,097	879	1,368,000	1:344
Leicestershire	1,701	363	833,000	1:404
Lincolnshire	1,171	314	530,000	1:357
Merseyside	4,472	914	1,562,000	1:290
Norfolk	1,223	248	675,000	1:459
Northamptonshire	905	254	514,000	1:443
Northumbria	3,272	768	1,465,000	1:362
North Yorkshire	1,342	338	654,000	1:389
Nottinghamshire	2,117	561	974,000	1:364
South Yorkshire	2,546	599	1,304,000	1:414
Staffordshire	1,978	571	994,000	1:390
Suffolk	1,064	329	588,000	1:422
Surrey	1,440	360	726,000	1:403
Sussex	2,758	723	1,278,000	1:367
Thames Valley	2,639	970	1,723,000	1:477
Warwickshire	841	204	467,000	1:447
West Mercia	1,743	493	963,000	1:431
West Midlands	5,981	1,418	2,730,000	1:369
West Yorkshire	4,727	1,186	2,073,000	1:351
Wiltshire	997	251	514,000	1:412
City of London	829	275	6,000	1:5
Metropolitan	22,214	12,443	7,445,000	1:215
¹ Population figures provided by OPCS June 1977.

increase of 15 per cent. over last year's provision, which itself represented a 28 per cent. increase over the previous year's.

Police Forces

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will set out, for each police authority in England, for the most recent year for which figures are available, (a) the number of police officers, (b) the number of civilian staff, (c) the population in the area covered and (d) the ratio of officers and staff to population; and what were the comparable figures for 1978–79.

The information requested is as follows:

Force As at 31 December 1992	Police strength	Civilian strength	Force population¹	Police authority/population ratio
Avon and Somerset	3,065	1,120	1,431,000	1:342
Bedfordshire	1,119	391	534,000	1:354
Cambridgeshire	1,265	446	670,000	1:392
Cheshire	1,901	543	967,000	1:396
Cleveland	1,492	473	558,000	1:284
Cumbria	1,197	414	490,000	1:304
Derbyshire	1,810	588	940,000	1:392
Devon and Cornwall	2,920	1,048	1,515,000	1:382
Dorset	1,318	553	663,000	1:354
Durham	1,377	541	604,000	1:315
Essex	2,917	1,088	1,477,000	1:369
Gloucestershire	1,148	373	539,000	1:354
Greater Manchester	7,055	2,539	2,562,000	1:267
Hampshire	3,287	1,089	1,705,000	1:390
Hertfordshire	1,688	594	843,000	1:369
Humberside	2,033	699	874,000	1:320
Kent	3,106	1,107	1,539,000	1:365
Lancashire	3,209	1,071	1,408,000	1:329
Leicestershire	1,834	667	891,000	1:356
Lincolnshire	1,191	483	593,000	1:354
Merseyside	4,656	1,638	1,441,000	1:229
Norfolk	1,426	460	759,000	1:402
Northamptonshire	1,203	436	587,000	1:358
Northumbria	3,586	1,232	1,433,000	1:297
North Yorkshire	1,408	454	721,000	1:387
Nottinghamshire	2,329	742	1,016,000	1:331
South Yorkshire	3,000	960	1,293,000	1:327
Staffordshire	2,172	736	1,047,000	1:360
Suffolk	1,237	520	662,000	1:377
Surrey	1,674	604	768,000	1:337
Sussex	2,980	971	1,430,000	1:362
Thames Valley	3,833	1,458	1,972,000	1:373
Warwickshire	1,002	332	490,000	1:367
West Mercia	2,060	927	1,099,000	1:368
West Midlands	6,952	2,471	2,619,000	1:278
West Yorkshire	5,070	1,878	2,066,000	1:297
Wiltshire	1,262	490	575,000	1:328
City of London	805	309	4,000	1:4
Metropolitan	27,812	14,584	7,285,000	1:172
¹ Population figures provided by OPCS June 1991.

Racial Attacks

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many reports have been recorded by the police of racial abuse or racial attacks in south-east London in each year since 1987.

The number of racial incidents recorded for 3 Area of the Metropolitan police, which consists of the London boroughs of Southwark, Lewisham, Bromley, Greenwich and Bexley, is as follows:

Year	Number
1987	244
1988	292
1989	396
1990	394
1991	596
1992	811

Public Order Act

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will propose amendment of the Public Order Act 1986.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that my right hon. and learned Friend gave to a question from my right hon. Friend the Member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler) on 31 March at column 225.

Dangerous Dogs

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has had from the Association of Chief Police Officers concerning the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

The Department has received one letter from the Association of Chief Police Officers concerning the operation of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the cost of consulting canine experts to determine whether or not dogs at the centre of the Mold Hendre Woods trial are pit bulls.

The cost to the prosecuting authorities of obtaining advice as to the identification of the 29 dogs involved in this case is £2,514·50.

Identity Cards

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a national identity card for all United Kingdom citizens; and if he will make a statement.

Although I remain ready to consider any arguments which may be advanced in favour of introducing an identity card system. I am not at present persuaded that the case for such a system has been made.

Child Abuse

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he is making to the recommendations in the NSPCC report into "Joint Enterprise and Parents", relating to (a) seeking separate trials in such cases, (b) reviewing the guidelines on what constitutes neglect or cruelty for the purposes of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, (c) making admissible evidence of behaviour of one parent against a child and (d) clarifying the extent to which a trial judge may comment on a defendant's choice not to give evidence.

The principal recipient of the NSPCC report into "Joint Enterprise and Parents" was the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice, which is expected to report in the summer. The Government will very carefully consider any proposals the commission may make that have a bearing on the issues raised in this question. A copy of the report was also sent by the director of the NSPCC to my right hon. and learned Friend, who in his reply offered the view that the report provided a useful analysis of actual cases while clearly demonstrating that there were no easy answers to the problems identified.

Corporal Punishment

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 16 March, Official Report, column 169, on corporal punishment, if he will list the evidence referred to in his answer.

The evidence referred to in that answer is the same evidence which informed policy in 1948.

Boards Of Visitors

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress he has to report on Lord Justice Woolf's recommendations concerning a president of boards of visitors.

I have been considering the report of a working group which was established to look at this recommendation, together with the representations that have been made to me by interested parties.I have decided against appointing a president of boards of visitors. There is no strong consensus of opinion amongst boards in favour of a president and some concern from them that their local, autonomous and voluntary nature might be compromised by such an appointment. Lord Woolf suggested that a president migh develop more effective methods for recruiting new members to boards and give guidance on good practice to be followed by boards, including the provision of training. These areas are already being addressed by my hon. Friend the Minister of State in conjunction with the board of visitors representative bodies and the prison service liaison section for boards of visitors.Consequently, I am not convinced that the appointment of a president is required.Boards of visitors have served the Crown and the public for many years and as Lord Woolf pointed out, we have good cause to be grateful to them for the work they do. The many changes that are happening now within the prison service have resulted in boards of visitors being faced with increasing demands upon their time. With this in mind, I have asked that once the prison service agency has had time to adjust to its own new status, consideration should be given to Lord Woolf's other recommendations and conclusions regarding boards of visitors to see whether we can assist boards further in carrying out their important role.

Directorate Of Telecommunications

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has for privatising the directorate of telecommunications.

As I announced on 3 February 1993 at column 204, I have been given approval for advisers to be engaged in preparation for the privatisation of DTELS (formerly the Directorate of Telecommunications). The aim is privatise during 1993–94 by means of a trade sale.Expenses in connection with the sale will be met from sale receipts. Parliamentary approval of this new service will be sought in a Supplementary Estimate for the Home Office's privatisation of DTELS vote (class VIII, vote 5). Pending that approval, urgent expenditure incurred in advance of the sale will be met by repayable advances, not expected to exceed £1 million, from the Contingencies Fund.

Racism And Homophobia

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he is taking to ensure that all police forces monitor racial and homophobic attacks.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: All police forces monitor racial incidents reported to them, and report to HM inspectorate of constabulary each year the number of incidents.The introduction of systematic monitoring of homophobic attacks is a matter for chief officers.

Life Imprisonment

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the average length of time that a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment spends in prison.

The available information is published annually in "Prison Statistics England and Wales" (table 8.5 of the latest volume, for 1991, Cm 2157), copies of which are in the Library. There are wide variations in time served, as shown by table 8.3 of the same publication.

Duchy Of Lancaster

Market Testing

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what plans he has to introduce new legislation to ease the implementation of further market testing programmes for central Government Departments and agencies in 1993–94.

The Government's legislative programme for 1993–94 will be announced in the Queen's Speech.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what estimate he has made of the percentage savings arising from market testing in previous years; and if he will give details of evidence he has for the level of savings.

Annual returns from Departments indicate that in previous years savings arising from market testing have typically been around 25 per cent. of the original cost even when the activity has remained in-house.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what safeguards exist, under the market testing programme, to prevent contractors or consultants already engaged by a Department from bidding for new work to which they had access or privileged information as a result of their involvement in an earlier contract.

It is the responsibility of each Department to assure itself that proper safeguards are in place to preserve fair and open competition and any competitive tendering exercise. Guidance on these matters was set out most recently by Her Majesty's Treasury's public competition and purchasing unit in its guidance note No. 40, "The Competitive Tendering Process", copies of which are in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if it is Government policy for external contractors to be market tested against an in-house bid at the re-tendering stage following a market test in which the initial contract was awarded to an external contractor.

It is the Government's general policy not to allow in-house bids when contracted out services are re-tendered. But there may be circumstances when such a bid would be allowed, for example when it could be made as part of a larger in-house bid, in a market test also covering services currently done in-house, or when there appeared to be insufficient external competition.

Health

Sellafield (Emissions)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimates her Department have made of the number of people who will die each year (a) in Cumbria, (b) in the United Kingdom and (c) worldwide, as a result of the proposed emissions of krypton gas from Nuclear Fuels Ltd.'s thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria;(2) what assessment has been made of the additional cost to the health service of treating the additional childhood leukaemias and other cancers due to the emissions of radioactivity from the Sellafield site compared with current, actual emissions.

The estimated collective dose for members of the pubic in the United Kingdom, Europe and worldwide from the proposed emissions of radionuclides, including Krypton 85, from British Nuclear Fuel Ltd's thermal oxide reprocessing plant are tabulated in the authorising Departments' explanatory memorandum to the draft authorisations. Copies of the draft authorisations are available in the Library. Estimates of the theoretical number of fatal cancers can be made using the fatal cancer risk factor recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection, which is currently 0·05 deaths per Sievert. For example, this theoretical calculation would imply, for all radionuclides discharged annually to the atmosphere from these proposed authorisations (covering all plants on the Sellafield site), rather less than one excess death in the United Kingdom over the next few decades. This precludes any sensible quantification of cost.

Tuberculosis

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many (a) cases of and (b) deaths from tuberculosis were recorded in each district health authority area in each of the last five years.

The number of cases of tuberculosis recorded in each district health authority is not available centrally. The numbers of deaths from tuberculosis will be placed in the Library.

Transitional Grants

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the basis for adjustments, and transfer of funds where appropriate, to transitional grant where boundary changes take place.

We will consider the effects of any significant changes in future years when calculating the distribution of the special transitional grant for those years.

Personal Social Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list in rank order the top five providers measured in terms of home help hours per year for those aged over 75 years among social services authorities; and if she will make a statement.

This information is not available centrally. Figures on hours of home help received by clients of all ages are collected by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and an indicator relating this information to the resident population aged 75 and over by local authority is included in the Personal and Social Services Key Indicators. A copy of the latest publication, for 1990–91, is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment she has made of the impact of the annual financial settlement on the level of spending on personal social services in 1993–94.

Total standard spending for local authority personal social services in 1993–94 is £5,585 million, an increase of 15 per cent. over 1992–93. With effective use of these resources, now almost 35 per cent. in real terms above the 1990–91 level, authorities should be able to make progress expanding existing services and fully discharge their new responsibilities for community care.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the level of provision of magnetic resonance imaging scanners.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Dr. Jones) on 28 April at col. 447. The latest figures held by the Department indicate that there are 78 magnetic resonance imaging scanners in England.

Patients Charter

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of district health authorities met the patients charter targets for (a) assessments following admission to accident and emergency units and (b) waiting times in out-patient clinics in the first six months of the financial year.

District health authorities, as purchasers of health care, will shortly be publishing their first annual report on performance against all patients charter standards achieved by their providers.A commentary on overall performance will be included in the chief executive's annual report for 1992–93.

Prescription Charges

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of dispensed drugs are liable to full prescription charges; what proportion are free; and what proportion of the population are liable to pay prescription charges.

In 1992, a prescription charge was paid on around 15 per cent. of items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors, a further 5 per cent. were covered by prescription prepayment certificates and about 80 per cent. were dispensed free. An estimated 50 per cent. of the population are liable to pay prescription charges.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to monitor the impact of increased prescription charges.

The information we regularly collect does not indicate that the level of prescription charge influences patient access to necessary medication. The number of prescribed items dispensed by community pharmacists and appliance contractors rose from 305 million in 1979 to 387 million in 1992, and is expected to exceed 403 million in 1993–94.

Dentistry

To ask the Secretary of state for Health (1) whether a rolling capitation system of dental remuneration for treating non-exempt adults is to be introduced;

(2) what will be the role of family health service authorities in the provision of general dental services following consideration of the Bloomfield report on dental remuneration;

(3) what new arrangements for dentistry in the general dental service will be put in place after consideration of the Bloomfield report on dental remuneration;

(4) if she will make it her policy that (a) the doctors and dentists pay review should continue to exist under any new service arrangements for dentistry following consideration of the Bloomfield report on dental remuneration and (b) the current expenditure on dental services should remain at its present level;

(5) if she will (a) ring fence family health services authority funds for general dental services and (b) uprate funds in addition to inflation factors.

Consultation on the Bloomfield report is continuing. We will announce our proposals in due course.

Community Care

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she last met representatives of (a) the Association of Directors of Social Services, (b) the British Association of Social Workers, (c) organisations representing those with learning disabilities, (d) carers, (e) service users, (f) the Social Care Association and (g) organisations providing residential, drug and alcohol projects to discuss the implementation of the changes in community care and the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I most recently met the Association of Directors of Social Services on 26 April 1993.I met representatives of the British Association of Social Workers on 11 November 1992.I met the national development team on 7 May 1992, Rescare on 14 May 1992, ARC on 7 July 1992 and Mencap on 27 July 1992.Ministers have attended a number of functions arranged by carer organisations in recent months. I met the Relatives Association on 11 March 1993.My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had several meetings with Age Concern, the most recent of which was on 8 February 1993. I met the National Schizophrenia Fellowship on 10 February 1993. I met the all-party disablement group on 3 November 1992. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State met the all-party parliamentary group for pensioners on 15 December 1992. We are setting up a group of users and carers who will give Ministers feedback on their experiences of the implementation of the community care reforms.The Social Care Association has not sought meetings to discuss the implementation of community care.At the end of last year my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I met a large number of independent sector drug and alcohol service providers to discuss various issues surrounding the implementation of community care.

Ambulances

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress is being made in improving ambulance response times: and if she will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Sheffield, Brightside (Mr. Blunkett) on 23 March at col. 576.

Nurses

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the level; of job opportunities available to newly qualified nurses.

The level of job opportunities available to newly qualified nurses will be for regional health authorities and local employers to decide. Where possible, regional health authorities and local employers are taking a variety of approaches to manage the situation, including expansion of flexible working patterns, job sharing, short-term contracts and clearing house schemes which alert newly qualified nurses to suitable posts.

Hepatitis B

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the Government's policy on hepatitis B vaccination.

In the United Kingdom hepatitis B vaccine is recommended for those at particular risk as a result of occupation, lifestyle or other factors such as intimate contact with a person infected with hepatitis B or a carrier of the disease. High risk groups include:

intravenous drug abusers;
those with multiple sexual partners;
close family contacts of an infected person or carrier;
babies born to mothers who are chronic carriers or who have had acute hepatitis B during pregnancy;
certain occupational groups, including all health care workers involved in invasive procedures.

The policy is kept under constant review, with expert advice from the Advisory Group on Hepatitis and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

"The Health Of The Nation"

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on progress towards "The Health of the Nation" targets.

"The Health of the Nation" is a long-term strategy, with many of its targets for the year 2000 and beyond. The mechanisms are in place to meet the targets. All national health service regions have implementation plans and a wide range of other bodies are now actively working together to bring about improvements in health.

Human Fertilisation And Embryology Act

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the regulations to be made under section 30 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 will be laid.

We have today issued a consultation document which includes draft regulations to be known as the Parental Orders for Gamete Donors Regulations 1993. The period for public consultation will end on 2 July 1993. The Government intend to lay the draft regulations before Parliament as soon as possible after the results of the consultation exercise have been considered. Copies of the consultation document are available in the Library.

Tranquilliser Addiction

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance is issued by her Department to general practitioners concerning the treatment of patients with tranquilliser addiction.

Detailed advice on the prescribing of benzodiazepines issued by the Committee on the Safety of Medicines is given in the British National Formulary which is issued free to all doctors. This advice contains a withdrawal protocol for general practitioners to help patients reduce their dependency gradually.

Nhs Administration

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the numbers of employees in (a) administrative grades and (b) medical staff employed in the national health service for each of the past seven years, and currently.

The information available is shown in the table.

Whole-time equivalent administrative and medical staff in England for 30 September of each year
Year	Administrative and clerical	Medical
1985	110,940	38,900
1986	110,840	39,270
1987	113,900	39,060
1988	114,720	40,390
1989	116,840	41,680
1990	120,040	42,990
1991	127,370	44,210

Sources:

Department of Health Medical and Dental Workforce Census.

Department of Health Non-medical Workforce Census.

Department of Health form KM 49 (1991 figures).

Notes:

1. The figures represent staff directly appointed in the Hospital and Community Health Service. Those for administrative grades are the staff employed on the terms and conditions of the NHS Administrative and Clerical Staffs Whitley Council. Medical staff include those in both career grades and training grades in the Hospital and Community Health Service.

2. The figures for 1991 include staff in NHS trusts.

3. The figures for 1992 are not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the current level of remuneration paid to chairmen and members of regional and district health authorities and trusts; and what has been the level of remuneration in each case of the past five years.

The current levels payable since 1 December 1991, of annual remuneration for chairmen and non-executives of NHS authorities and trusts are:RHA Chairmen: £20,925.DHA Chairmen are paid according to a banding structure based on the district revenue budget. The present rates are:

Revenue budget 1985–86	Band	Rates per annum
		(£)
In excess of £60 million	Band 1	19,285
Between £30 million to £60 million	Band 2	17,145
Less than £30 million	Band 3	15,125

FHSA chairmen are also paid according to a banding structure based on the population of the area covered by the authority. The present rates are:

FHSA population mid 1985	Band	Rates per annum
		£
Over 750,000	Band 1	12,605
250,000–750,000	Band 2	11,720
Under 250,000	Band 3	10,845

NHS trust chairmen are paid according to the unit turnover in 1988–89. The present rates are:

Unit turnover 1988–89	Band	Rates per annum
		£
In excess of £50 million	Band 1	19,285
Between £20 million and £50 million	Band 2	17,145
Less than £20 million	Band 3	15,125

Remuneration for non-executive members and directors of NHS authorities and trusts was introduced in 1990. All receive £5,000 per annum.

The remuneration of NHS authority and trust chairmen since July 1987 was:

Date	RHAs	DHAs	Trusts
	£	£	£
1 July 1991	19,110	13,812–17,610	13,812–17,610
1 July 1990	18,921	13,674–17,437	—
1 July 1989	12,462	12,462	—
1 July 1988	11,709	11,709	—
1 July 1987	11,205	11,205	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will indicate the criteria used in appointing members of health authorities.

Members of health authorities are appointed for their personal qualities and skills, and for the contribution they can make to the authority. The aim is to achieve a balance on the authority of different skills and experience, including local knowledge.

Hospital Waiting Lists

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of self-deferrals by people who had been waiting (a) 0–11 months, (b) 12–23 months or (c) 24 or more months for (i) in-patient and for (ii) day case treatment in each six months period since April 1987.

[holding answer 23 April 1993]: Such information as is available is given in the table. Information about self-deferred cases is available only from September 1987. The increase in self-deferrals for day case treatment reflects the 128 per cent. increase in day case admissions over the same period.

Self-deferred cases
Numbers at end of six-month periods ending;
	In-patients	Day case
September 1987	40,766	8,977
March 1988	39,115	8,361
September 1988	40,753	8,433

	In-patients	Day case
March 1989	37,098	8,769
September 1989	38,224	9,905
March 1990	36,441	9,735
September 1990	39,274	11,865
March 1991	36,115	11,998
September 1991	33,868	12,469
March 1992	30,965	13,151
September 1992	35,992	18,134

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients waiting more than two years for treatment were removed from waiting lists (a) by admission for treatment and (b) for reasons other than treatment; and how many were self-deferred, in each regional health authority in each six-month period since September 1988.

[holding answer 23 April 1993]: The information available centrally on the total numbers of patients who were either admitted or removed from waiting lists or self-deferred has been placed in the Library. Information on the numbers of these patients who had waited over two years is not held centrally.

Prime Minister

Treaties

To ask the Prime Minister how many treaties have been ratified by Her Majesty's Government since 1979.

Her Majesty's Government have ratified 243 treaties since 1 January 1979.

St Bartholomew's Hospital

To ask the Prime Minister what representations he has received from the City of London about the proposal to close the accident and emergency department at St. Bartholomew's hospital.

So far as I am aware, none.

Orders In Council

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the statutory powers which have authorised the use of the Orders in Council in the last six months.

Since 1 November 1992, Orders in council have been made under the following Acts and Measures:

Burial Acts 1853 and 1855
Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985
Civil Aviation Acts 1949 and 1982
Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982
Continental Shelf Act 1964
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Criminal Justice (International Co-operation) Act 1990
Dioceses Measure 1978
Education Reform Act 1988
Education (Scotland) Act 1980
European Communities Act 1972
Extradition Acts 1870 and 1989
Foreign Compensation Acts 1950 and 1969
Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988
Judicature (Northern Ireland) Act 1978
Local Government Act 1972 and 1974

Maintenance Orders (Reciprocal Enforcement) Act 1972
Merchant Shipping Act 1894
Naval and Marine Pay and Pensions Act 1865
Northern Ireland Act 1974
Northern Ireland Constitution Act 1973
Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986
Pastoral Measure 1983
Royal Marriages Act 1772
Social Security Administration Act 1992
Social Security (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1977
Supreme Court Act 1981
Tribunals and Inquiries Act 1992
United Nations Act 1964
University of London Act 1978
Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1923
Universities (Scotland) Act 1966

Publlic Servants

To ask the Prime Minister how many persons have been appointed to grades 1 to 7, or equivalent grades, in the civil service since 1979.

Since 1979 there has been about 1,250 grade 1 to 3 appointments in the home civil service. This figure includes those appointed from within the service.About 4,000 recruits have entered the home civil service at grade levels 4 to 7 during the period. This figure excludes promotions from within the civil service, on which information is not readily available.

National Heritage

Ecclesiastical Buildings

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the peculiars enjoying the ecclesiastical exemption from listed building control.

This information is not available. My Department will shortly be discussing the status of peculiars with church representatives, in the light of the changes to the scope of the ecclesiastical exemption which I announced on 17 December at columns 370–71.

Bskyb

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what response he has made to the Independent Producers Association and to the all-party media committee in respect of their submissions concerning the regulatory framework for BSkyB.

The chairman of the all-party media group has recently written to me and I shall be responding shortly. I have not yet received a submission from the Independent Producers Association.

Bernard Shaw Estate

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps have been taken to ensure that the British museum has used the proceeds of the Bernard Shaw estate to fulfil the ends expressed in Mr. Shaw's will.

The use of income from the bequest is entirely a matter for the trustees of the British Museum.

Deaf And Blind Sports

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) what level of direct financial support will be available to the British Deaf Sports Council and British Blind Sport in the coming financial year;(2) if he will make a statement on Government aid for profoundly deaf people in sport;(3) what action he will take to assist the British Deaf Sports Council with administrative costs associated with costs arising from participation in the world games for the deaf in Sofia, Bulgaria;(4) what steps he will take to improve awareness of deaf persons' needs in sport.

In 1993–94, the British Deaf Sports Council and British Blind Sport will each receive a grant of £30,000 from the Sports Council, channelled through the British Sports Association for the Disabled. The Sports Council also assists the British Paralympic Association (BPA) which has agreed to provide £70,000 towards the costs of the World Games for the Deaf and hopes to contribute more. My Department will be represented in Sofia and I am sure that the achievements of our deaf athletes will increase public awareness of this aspect of disabled sport.

House Of Commons

Security

To ask the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed, as representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans there are to reduce the cost of security at the Palace of Westminster.

None. All services provided in the Palace are monitored to ensure that best value for money is obtained.

Silverware

To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee if he will list the occasions in each of the last five years when cutlery has been sold; what were the scrap weights and the estimated number of items in each consignment; and if he will make a statement.

I understand from the Director of Catering Services that the Refreshment Department records show that cutlery and holloware has been sold on three occasions, detailed as follows:

Date	Scrap weight cwt.	Approximate number of items	Scrap value per cwt.	Credit received
			£	£
3 May 91	6·82	2,000	16·00	109
12 February 1992	4·25	500	17·50	74
1 April 1993	1·37	75	25·50	35

The Department's records indicate that damaged and worn out cutlery and holloware were not sold back to its supplier until May 1991. Prior to that time, they were written off by stock-takers, agreed by the National Audit Office as "unusable" and accumulated in the Refreshment Department stores. This accumulated stock was sold in the two lots noted above, dated May 1991 and February 1992, hence the large number of items disposed of in these transactions. At the financial year-end stock-take in March 1993, approximately 75 items were written off as a result of wear and tear and were sold for scrap in the transaction above dated April 1993.There is no evidence of any substantial theft of cutlery or holloware from the House.The Department's conditions of trade now specify that no cutlery or holloware will be disposed of by its supplier unless all identifiable crests and marks have been erased.

To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee if he will publish the letter from the Director of Catering Services to the hon. Member for Bradford, South dated 27 April, relating to House of Commons silverware.

The terms of the letter are as follows:

"Further to your question tabled for reply on 26 April, I am pleased to write with the details you requested.

The cutlery to which I believe you refer was damaged as a result of normal wear and tear and was disposed of by sale as scrap to the Department's nominated silverware supplier. In fact two small consignments of redundant silverware have been disposed of in this manner in the past six months. The total scrap value paid to the Department was £109, based on the weight of the redundant silverware.

In November 1992, it was brought to our attention by The Sunday Times that House of Commons silverware was being offered for sale in the USA. It transpired that a consignment of redundant silverware sold back to our supplier in the normal way had been sold on by them for melting down by a third party without having first erased all Portcullis badging. The silverware was then sold on by the third party and eventually appeared for sale on the open market in the USA. Rest assured, contractual agreement has since been formalised that no old silverware will be disposed of by our supplier unless all identifiable crests and marks have been erased.

I trust this information is helpful to you, please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any points you would like to raise on the matter."

I understand from the Director of Catering Services that there was an error in the letter. The two consignments of silverware mentioned in the second paragraph of the letter were in fact disposed of in February 1992 and April 1993.

Committee Stages

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list each Bill, since 1979, whose Committee stage exceeded the hours spent overall on the Committee stage of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill in Session 1992–93; and in respect of which of those Bills the House made allocation of time orders.

Since Session 1979–80, no Bill which was committed to a Committee of the whole House has had a Committee stage as long as that of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill. Comparative figures for Bills committed to Standing Committees are only available at disproportionate cost.

Education

Ministerial Visits To Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many of the schools (a) he and (b) the three schools Ministers have visited in the past year are (i) grant maintained, (ii) local authority run and (iii) private.

Of the 117 schools visited by the DFE ministerial team my right hon. Friend has visited three grant-maintained schools, 25 local authority maintained schools, two non-maintained special schools, five independent schools and two city technology colleges.I, my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister of State and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Mr. Boswell) have between us visited 13 grant-maintained schools, 55 local authority maintained schools, one non-maintained special school, seven independent schools and four city technology colleges.

Postgraduate Students

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to assist postgraduate students to fund their course fees and living expenses where their education authority are refusing to grant discretionary awards; and if he will make a statement.

Local education authorities have power to make discretionary awards to students on postgraduate courses, other than those designated under the Postgraduate etc. Courses (Exclusion from Discretionary Awards) Regulations as being within the ambit of another postgraduate award-making body. Universities can use their access funds to help full-time postgraduate students facing financial difficulties. My right hon. Friend has no plans to establish a new award scheme for postgraduates unable to secure support from other sources.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the newspapers and other journals in which he placed advertisements on 27 April; and what was the cost to his Department in each case.

Advertisements were placed in The Independent and The Guardian. The rates for placing advertisements are negotiated on an individual basis and this information is commercial in confidence.

Tests

To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) if he will list the local education authorities which in the seven years before the introduction of assessment and testing within the national curriculum failed to ensure that children in their schools were assessed and tested until they took examinations at 16-plus;(2) if he will list the schools in each local education authority area, which in the seven years before the introduction of assessment and testing within the national curriculum failed to ensure that children were assessed and tested until they took public examinations at 16-plus;(3) if he will list the action taken by his predecessors and himself since 1979 to remedy the failures reported to them as far as the non-testing of children before the age of 16-plus was concerned.

Comprehensive information on testing and assessment policies in individual local education authorities and individual schools is not available in the form requested. There have been a number of surveys of tests used for different age groups, however. The most recent was conducted by the National Foundation for Educational Research on behalf of the School Examinations and Assessment Council (SEAC) in March 1992 on existing practices in local education authorities for testing 11-year-olds. No testing took place in 49 out of the 91 authorities which responded—over half.The same theme is to be found in a number of reports by Her Majesty's inspectorate. For example, in OFSTED's most recent report, "Assessment, Recording and Reporting in 1991–92", the schools inspectors said that they had found that

"The quality of teacher assessment during key stage 3 remained variable with the norm being weak"

and

"the quality of teacher assessment in middle schools was rarely good."

The main action to remedy this was taken by my right hon. Friend and his predecessors when the national curriculum and its associated assessment arrangements were introduced in the Education Reform Act 1988, to ensure that all pupils were rigorously assessed in the national curriculum subjects four times during 11 years of compulsory schooling, on completion of programmes of study associated with each key stage—for most pupils at the ages of 7, 11, 14 and 16. Implementation of statutory assessment procedures began with tests for seven-year-olds in 1991. Tests for 11-year-olds will be the last to be introduced, in 1994.

Special Needs

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what progress has been made to reduce the time taken by local education authorities in issuing statements of special needs; and which local education authorities have met his Department's recommended time of issuing special needs statements.

The information requested has not to date been collected centrally. However the Government recognise that there has been concern over the time some LEAs can take to complete their statutory duties in this area. The Education Bill, now in the other place, accordingly empowers the Secretary of State to make regulations prescribing time limits for the making of assessments and statements, subject to prescribed exceptions.

Parents' Guide

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will name the advertising agency handling the campaign to publicise the parents' guide, "How is Your Child doing at School?" and what is the fee for this account.

The advertising agency is GGK London Ltd. Information about the agency's handling fee is commercial in confidence.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the estimated cost of the free phone line set up for parents to request copies of "How is Your Child Doing at School?".

The cost of setting up the free phone line is estimated at £3,500. The cost of operating the line will depend on the response rate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he placed the order for the parent's guide "How is Your Child Doing at School?"; and how many copies of the leaflet have been published in each of the 10 languages listed in the advertisement published on 27 April.

Proposals for a campaign to provide parents with information about testing, based on similar campaigns undertaken in the previous two years, formed part of the Department's publicity strategy approved by the Secretary of State in December last year. The number of copies being produced in each language is:

	Number
English	3,000,000
Hindi	10,000
Bengali	10,000
Punjabi	10,000
Gujerati	10,000
Chinese	10,000
Greek	10,000
Turkish	10,000
Urdu	12,000
Vietnamese	7,500

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much it cost his Department to publish the parent's guide "How is Your Child Doing at School?" in each of the 10 languages listed in the advertisement published on 27 April.

The cost of producing the guide in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Gujerati, Chinese, Greek, Turkish and Vietnamese is estimated at £18,000 in total. It is not possible to allocate a cost for each individual translation. The cost of producing the version in English is estimated at £132,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has for future DOE leaflets for parents.

During the current year, my right hon. Friend proposes to issue the following leaflets whose primary target audience is parents:

a revised version of the parents charter;
the 1993 comparative tables of schools' performance;
a leaflet about the assisted places scheme;
a leaflet, "Questions Parents Ask", about self-governing (GM) schools; and
a leaflet about GNVQs.

University Students' Grants

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the average annual grant for university students in each European Community country.

The information requested is not held centrally. The table shows the latest available estimates for the expenditure per student on student support and welfare in higher education. A fuller set of comparisons for 1986 is given in the DFE working report "International Comparisons of Higher Education"; copies of which are available in the Library.

Public recurrent expenditure on student support and welfare per higher education student in 1989 at 1989 prices
Type of support available	¹£
France
Loan and grant	248
Germany
Loan and grant	62

Type of support available

¹£

Spain

Loan and grant

112

United Kingdom

Loan and grant

^{2 3}785

¹ At purchasing power parity.

² Excluding expenditure and students on nursing and paramedic courses at Department of Health establishments. Also excludes in-service teacher training secondments and costs.

³ Excludes tuition fees.

Dance Students

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what level of financial support is available for students studying dance; and if he will make a statement on the availability of courses in dance and future financial support for dance students.

Students on designated full-time first degree and equivalent level courses in dance are eligible for a mandatory award and a student loan on the terms prescribed in the regulations. Other students may apply to their local education authority for a discretionary award, the availability and amount of which is for the authority to determine. Some dance students also receive support under the Government's music and ballet scheme. The Government keep these arrangements under periodic review.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Kent Marshes

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what role the flood defence function of the National Rivers Authority has in the implementation of higher water levels in the north Kent marshes environmentally sensitive area.

Where higher water levels are sought there will be careful liaison between the Ministry and the National Rivers Authority.

Meat Regulations

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what representations he has received about the implementation of EC directives on slaughterhouses (a) in general and (b) in regard to the Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1992 and the requirement for stainless steel hooks; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Mr. Soley) on 29 April at col. 1136, and to the independent report on hygiene and structural requirements in slaughterhouses which my right hon. Friend the Minister placed in the Library of the House on 31 March (Official Report, 31 March 1993, col. 251).

Pesticides

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of progress in the speeding up of pesticide registration and evaluation; and if he will make a statement.

Good progress is being made by the Pesticides Safety Directorate in speeding up the pesticide evaluation system. Applications for new active ingredients are now being evaluated shortly after receipt of the full data package and the target is to clear 15 such applications in the current year. This is a substantial increase on previous years. Queues have also been eliminated in three other approval streams covering experimental permits and minor changes to existing approvals. The waiting period for applications requiring the evaluation of new data in respect of existing products had been reduced from a peak of 91 weeks to 67 weeks. I expect this period to be reduced significantly over the next few months.

Table Salt

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he has plans to ban the use of sodium hexacyanoferrate as an additive in table salt.

I have no plans to ban the use of this additive. Sodium hexacyanoferrate is permitted by the Miscellaneous Additives in Food Regulations (as amended). It was last evaluated by the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) as an anti-caking agent in salt in 1988. The COT confirmed that sodium hexacyanoferrate was provisionally acceptable for use in food pending the submission of further studies. These studies have now been carried out and will be reviewed by the COT when full details have been submitted.

Radioactive Fallout

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many sheep and farms, covering what land area in total, are still affected by the restrictions imposed on farms as a result of the radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear accident in May 1986.

The information requested is as follows:

	Number of farms	Acreage (approx)	Number of sheep (approx)
England	126	90,588	110,500
Northern Ireland	98	18,742	17,750
Scotland	54	137,579	106,000
Wales	353	180,000	248,000

Dairy Herds (Bacteria)

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how often the Milk Marketing Board performs a bacteria count and cell count on every dairy herd.

The Milk Marketing Board aims to test the milk supplied to it by each producer once a week.

Iacs Forms

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will extend the deadline for the submission of integrated administration and control system forms for one month from 5 May.

No.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about his Department's approach to those who return their IACS forms with (a) minor and (b) major errors.

We are carrying out an initial brief check of IACS forms received to ensure that essential details have been provided and the application has been signed. Applications which satisfy this test are accepted as having been lodged with the Department on the date of receipt. Other applications are returned to farmers for completion or signature, and will be lodged on the date we received the completed or signed form. We cannot, however, guarantee to check all applications in time for them to be completed before the deadline, and it is for farmers to ensure that they have supplied all the necessary information. All applications will subsequently be subjected to more detailed checks of the information provided. The penalties to be applied where IACS forms are late or inaccurate are laid down by EC regulations. Details are set out in the IACS explanatory booklet, together with the procedures for the correction of genuine errors. We shall be as reasonable as we possibly can in our checks of applications received, particularly where minor errors are involved, but we have to operate within the legislative framework.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what penalties he is proposing for those who return IACS forms late; what is the return date for IACS forms in every other EC country; and what are the penalties for late submission in every other EC country.

The penalties for late claims are laid down in EC regulations, and apply equally in all EC member states. Details are set out in the IACS explanatory booklet.The EC regulations set a deadline of 15 May for the return of IACS applications this year. I understand that the majority of member states have opted for a deadline on or around 15 May, though Spain set a closing date of 31 March and France a date of 30 April. Portugal has set 30 April for farmers with autumn and winter crops and 15 May for the others. There is provision in the EC regulations for member states to set a deadline between 15 May and 1 July where the application relates only to permanent pasture and it is submitted at the same time as a livestock aid application. I understand that only Ireland has exercised this option.

Dairy Inspectors

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many dairy inspectors there are in the United Kingdom; how often dairy inspectors visit each farm to administer the dairy regulations; what is the cost to the farmer of each visit; and if he will make a statement.

There are 21 dairy inspectors in England and Wales. The frequency of inspection visits varies but top quality milk producers whose milk is consistently placed in Band A of the Milk Marketing Board's total bacterial count scheme, who have a good history of compliance with milk and dairy regulations and who demonstrated satisfactory on-farm conditions during the most recent visits, will normally be visited every three and a half years. Other producers are visited more frequently depending on the standards they achieve. The present cost to the farmer of each visit is £92, or £71 if he has fewer than 20 cows. The position in Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the respective Secretaries of State.

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those EC countries operating restrictions on specified offals.

According to information collected by the European Commission in April 1991, in addition to the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands have a ban on the feeding of specified bovine offals to ruminants.The export of the specified bovine offals from the United Kingdom to other member states is prohibited.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list those EC countries that have recorded incidences of BSE.

In addition to the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and France have confirmed cases of BSE in indigenous cattle, and there has been a single case of BSE in Denmark in a cow which had been imported from the United Kingdom.

Captive Birds

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what decision he has taken in relation to resuming imports of captive birds from Tanzania.

The issue of licences for import of captive birds from Tanzania was suspended in March 1991 because of the failure of the authorities there to respond to our request for a veterinary official of my Department to make a visit and discuss with them various animal health and welfare matters, the standard of health certification and the conditions under which future imports of captive birds would take place.The Tanzanian veterinary authorities agreed to a visit from a senior MAFF veterinarian in July 1991. Following this visit a new protocol for the provision of animal health certification was subsequently drawn up. The main provision of the new protocol is that the director of veterinary services in Tanzania will be responsible for the production and issue of an official veterinary health certificate, which will be required for all birds entering Great Britain, regardless of their final destination.I have now received assurances from the Tanzanian veterinary authorities that they will observe the new protocol on exports of all birds to Great Britain, regardless of their final destination. Arrangements are also in hand for verification of the certifying veterinarians.In view of these assurances, I have agreed to the immediate resumption of the issue of licences for imports of captive birds from Tanzania.We shall be monitoring closely at ports of entry any consignments of birds arriving from Tanzania in the coming months to ensure that the terms of the protocol have been met. The lifting of the moratorium will not affect the requirement for CITES export permits originating in Tanzania for bird species covered by the convention to be checked for validity by the CITES Secretariat in Lausanne before an import permit can be issued by the Department of the Environment.We remain committed to securing reductions in the level of mortality in imported captive birds, both whilst in transit to this country and while in post-import quarantine. In addition, we will continue to take appropriate measures to ensure that the highest possible standards are complied with by those transporting birds and those responsible for their care after import.

Animal Breeding Techniques

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how he intends to respond to ethical concerns about the use of new animal breeding techniques on farms.

Ethical concerns about the use of new animal breeding techniques in farming are matters which I take very seriously. I have therefore invited Dr. Michael Banner, Dean of Peterhouse college, Cambridge to chair an ad hoc committee to consider the ethical implications of emerging technologies in the breeding of farm animals. The committee's terms of reference are:

To consider the ethical implications of emerging technologies in the breeding of farm animals; to advise on the adequacy of the existing legal and other safeguards in those areas: and to make recommendations.

I shall discuss the membership and work programme of the committee with Dr. Banner, and will make a further announcement as soon as these issues have been settled. I expect the committee to report in about a year.

Meat Products

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the degree of over-capacity in the United Kingdom meat foods manufacturing sector.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: Overall capacity of the food industry is for the market place to decide. My contacts with representatives of this sector suggest that they are continuing to invest and are optimistic about the future.

Trade And Industry

Radar Speed Cameras

to ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to ban the sale and advertising of devices to evade radar speed camera technology.

The use and advertising of such devices is already subject to a number of controls.The use of radar speed trap detectors constitutes an offence under the Wireless Telegraph Act 1949.Under the Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 it is an offence to obscure the registration number of a vehicle. It is a common law offence to incite a person to commit an offence, for example, in an advertisement.

The British code of advertising practice, administered by the Advertising Standards Authority requires that advertisements should contain nothing which is in breach of the law.

I understand that the Department of Transport is to strengthen existing regulations to make it illegal to sell reflective number plates of the type designed to evade camera technology.

Loan Guarantee Scheme

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money has been loaned by each of the participating banks in the loan guarantee scheme in the prior two years.

Money loaned, by lender, under the small firms loan guarantee scheme in the past two years has been:

£ thousands
	1991–92	1992–93	Total
National Westminster	34,600	13,672	48,272
Barclays	14,060	13,281	27,341
Midland	8,770	14,029	22,799
3i	4,950	4,220	9,170
Bank of Scotland	2,710	2,127	4,837
Lloyds	2,300	2,306	4,606
LENTA	1,620	13	1,633
Royal Bank of Scotland	990	569	1,559
Clydesdale	—	1,197	1,197
Ulster	—	229	229
Yorkshire Enterprise	—	225	225
DONBAC	—	218	218
Northern	—	190	190

Power Stations (Sour Gas)

To ask the President of the Board of Trade which power stations in the United Kingdom have been authorised to use sour gas.

My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has given consent under section 36 of the Electricity Act 1989 to the following stations which are to be fuelled by "sour gas":

Ryedale, North Yorkshire (50–60 MW)
Connah's Quay, Deeside, North Wales (1,350 MW)

Power stations with a capacity of 50 MW or less are dealt with under the Town and Country Planning Acts and my Department does not have information on such stations.Consents for power stations in Scotland and Northern Ireland are the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland respectively.

Trawsfynydd Power Station

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to announce his decision in respect of Nuclear Electric's application to set up an incinerator to dispose of contaminated oil at Trawsfynydd power station; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade will announce his decision on this application in due course.

Motor Insurance

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the role of his Department in ensuring that only motor insurance companies with current valid authorisation can issue insurance cover; what steps are taken to protect policy holders where there is no valid authorisation: if he will list all recent cases of companies issuing cover without authorisation; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has responsibilities for administering the Insurance Companies Act 1982. Part of this responsibility is to ensure that only properly authorised companies underwrite motor insurance business in the United Kingdom. When the Department becomes aware of possible illegal underwriting of motor insurance business it will therefore seek to act to have any illegality stopped. Depending on the circumstances of a particular case action by the Department against those who may be in breach of the Act might include investigation, prosecution and seeking a winding up; and if fraud is suspected, referral and/or assistance to the police. Where appropriate, it would also seek to alert the public to the dangers of an illegal operation through appropriate publicity and would liaise with other bodies e.g. the Department of Transport, that may need to be aware of a case or may be able to help with it.It is the responsibility of drivers to make certain that they are properly insured. They can help themselves by dealing through reputable intermediaries or direct with authorised insurance companies. They should always ensure that they know the name of the insurer carrying their risk as well as the name of any intermediary with whom they deal. If they have doubts about the status of the insurer, they may contact the Motor Insurers Bureau for advice or, failing that, ask the Department. In the event that an uninsured motorist is involved in an accident the Motor Insurers Bureau will meet a third party claim but may pursue the uninsured motorist for recompense.Recently there has been an increase in the number of illegal motor insurance operations coming to the attention of the Department. The list gives the names of those who over the last three months are believed to have issued motor insurance without proper underwriting by an authorised insurer. In addition, a further four cases are currently being investigated to establish whether the issuers of the insurance are acting legally. Many of these cases have involved targeting particular groups of motorists who have been affected by rises in insurance premiums. For example, young drivers and those with convictions may be attracted by the unusually attractive rates offered.Those running illegal operations will usually advertise their products in a very limited way. Thus advertising may be restricted to particular local areas or limited to distribution of leaflets to domestic premises. By these means they seek to minimise risk of detection. Such approaches should be treated with some caution. As with all fraudulent activity, it is the responsibility of those paying money to take reasonable precautions against being duped.RECENT CASES OF COMPANIES ISSUING MOTOR INSURANCE WITHOUT AUTHORISATION

February 1993

Westbridge Corporation Ltd.

72 New Bond Street
London
trading through Red Rose Insurance Consultants in Bolton

March 1993

Royal Lytham Insurance/Royal Lytham Holdings
Lytham St. Annes
Sunrise Insurance Co. (UK) Ltd./L & G Security Ltd.
Neath
Crest Motor Securities (UK), trading as Springwood Insurance Services
Ipswich

April 1993

Sterling Motor Securities UK Ltd./Sterling Union Assurance
72 New Bond Street
London
trading through Nationwide Insurance Bureau Ltd
Westbridge Corporation Ltd.
72 New Bond Street
London
trading through Paul Rogers Insurance & Financial Consultants in Hove

Jordan (Exports)

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the total number of export licences awarded by his Export Control Office for equipment sent to Jordan since 1985; and what information Her Majesty's Government have received on compliance with end-use certificates of goods exported to Jordan over this period.

A complete breakdown of figures for the number of licences issued for Jordan is not readily available. However, the following table shows applications received and licences issued where available:

Year	Applications received	Licences issued
1985	n/a	n/a
1986	200	n/a
1987	340	n/a
1988	310	n/a
1989	138	n/a
1990	155	47
1991	104	69
1992	157	122
¹ 1993	39	13
¹ 1 January 1993 to 30 April 1993.

Information on compliance with end-use certificates is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Export Guarantee Funds

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much of the £1 billion fund created in 1988 under section 2 of the Export Guarantees and Overseas Investment Act 1978 has been used.

ECGD has issued guarantees worth £834·2 million against the ceiling of £1 billion under the arrangements which Ministers announced in June 1988 for underwriting large contracts for defence goods.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the outstanding liabilities, and the annual cost, of expenditure incurred under section 2 of the Export Guarantees and Overseas Investment Act 1978 in each year since 1979.

Information on section 2 is only available up to March 1987 after which ECGD introduced a new form of account under which information was no longer accounted for separately between section 1 and section 2.

	Amounts at risk¹	Amounts in default²	Consolidated fund balance³	Trading reserves and surpluses⁴
	£ million	£ million	£ million	£ million
31 March 1980	8,177	77	342·0	309·3
31 March 1981	8,465	94	371·3	364·5
31 March 1982	12,266	180	380·6	454·6
31 March 1983	17,737	403	166·0	680·3
31 March 1984	18,673	623	-15·5	566·3
31 March 1985	19,354	876	-156·7	405·3
31 March 1986	16,930	1,200	-252·8	551·0
31 March 1987	14,821	1,549	-510·0	297·2
¹ These amounts represent ECGD's gross contingent liability under extant guarantees excluding unrecovered claims payments.
² These comprise gross paid claims, plus interest, which have not been recovered or written off.
³ These amounts represent ECGD's cumulative cash balance under Section 2. Notional interest in line with commercial rates was earned on positive balances and charged on negative balances.
⁴ These amounts represent the cumulative value of ECGD's assets (positive cash balances, paid claims net of provisions) over its liabilities (negative cash balances, provisions for future claims).

Mothballed Collieries

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if collieries which are to be mothballed will have their shafts, roadways, and coal faces maintained; if water pumping operations will be maintained at collieries where this is necessary; and if he will give details of what the mothballing process consists of.

This is a matter for British Coal.

Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what permits, licences or grants have been given by the nuclear installations inspectorate/Health and Safety Executive, in the recent and current rounds of the licensing procedure for THORP, for radioactive processes and/or the use of radioactive substances in THORP, other than the reception and storage of irradiated fuel.

The regulation of THORP, which is undertaken by the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate (NII), is effected by conditions attached to the nuclear site licence for Sellafield. As regards the commissioning of THORP the NII has not yet permitted the introduction of radioactive material except for small amounts of natural uranium needed to calibrate certain instruments.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what account has been taken of (a) the Tomsk-7 and (b) the 1973 B204 Sellafield accidents in the design of the thermal oxide reprocessing plant at Sellafield.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: This is a matter for British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) but I understand that all relevant factors, including lessons learned from the accident at B 204 Sellafield, have been taken fully into account by BNFL in the design and construction of THORP. In addition, the Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate ensures that the design of nuclear plant such as THORP meets the high standards of safety they require.

The information has been published in ECGD's trading accounts from 1979–80, copies of which can be found in the Library. For convenience the relevant details are brought together in the following table:

Metric And Imperial Measures

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will enable consumers to compare the price of metric and imperial measured catch-weight goods by waiving the statutory requirement to show dead-weight marking on them so that display of comparison weight can be made by means of charts at the premises.

The Government are reviewing the present statutory requirement for dual price marking.

Postal Deliveries

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has, in his plans for the universal letter service at a uniform tariff following the Post Office review, for the provision of a second daily domestic delivery in most areas of the country.

There are no plans to change the overall arrangements.

Coal Stocks

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what have been the average level of coal stocks held (a) by British Coal and (b) by the generators in each of the past five years; and what guidance he is giving each in respect of stock levels in the current and two subsequent years.

The average levels of coal stocks held by the electricity generators and British Coal in each of the last five years were:

	British Coal	United Kingdom electricity generators
	(thousand tonnes)	(thousand tonnes)
1988	6,105	25,813
1989	9,851	27,975
1990	8,593	26,895
1991	9,827	28,942
1992	12,632	31,989

The current stocking requirements are set out in the Government's White Paper, "The Prospects for Coal" (Cmnd 2235). As envisaged in the White Paper, consultations are taking place about stocking arrangements for 1993–94 and following years.

Oil Exploration

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what specific conditions have been imposed on oil exploration licences issued to Marathon Oil for blocks 103/1, 103/6, 106/27, 102/10, 106/18, 106/19 and 106/23.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 26 April, Official Report, column 304.

Energy And Environment Council

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the issues discussed and decisions taken at the joint Energy and Environment Council held on 23 April.

My hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and Countryside and I represented the United Kingdom at a joint session of the Energy and Environment Councils on 23 April to review progress in relation to the Community strategy on climate change. Discussion focused on the proposal for a Community carbon/energy tax and the concept of burden-sharing in achieving the carbon dioxide stabilisation objective. We noted that the Economic and Financial Council had concluded last December that a great deal more work was needed before it could take any decisions on whether a tax was needed and, if so, what form it should take. This work was under way and, in the meantime, it was premature to seek to commit member states to the principle of a Community-wide carbon/energy tax. The United Kingdom was not yet convinced that such a tax was either a necessary or appropriate response to the problem of global warming. A number of other member states who were willing to accept the principle of a Community tax made clear that they could do so only on the basis that they would be exempted from applying the tax as part of the proposed burden-sharing arrangement. No decisions were taken or agreement reached, on the proposed tax or on the structure of burden-sharing.The Council also discussed a Commission report on Community assistance to eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to improve the safety of nuclear reactors, in which the United Kingdom and others called for improved implementation of Community programmes.The Commission announced that it would shortly submit proposals for a new Council regulation on ozone-depleting substances.

British Coal Pension Scheme

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if his Department has given or offered an indemnity to British Coal against any liability that might fall upon the corporation as a consequence of the deferment of payments of additional contributions to the British Coal staff superannuation scheme.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: No indemnity has been given or offered to British Coal for any such liabilities.

Waste Disposal Contracts

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 26 April, Official Report, column 306, if a municipal waste-to-energy scheme which had been granted a waste disposal contract relatively soon after a third tranche of the non-fossil fuel obligation is announced would be eligible to bid into the new order.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: Provided that such a project met the other requirements, I would expect it to be eligible to bid.

Number of offers accepted
	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Advanced technology programmes	15	89	58	73	34
EUREKA	19	10	21	69	55
LINK	13	38	90	110	109
SMART	130	215	258	278	272
SPUR	0	0	1	137	128
Total	177	352	428	667	598

Expenditure in constant 1992–93 prices (£k)
	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Advanced technology programmes	10,434	10,407	12,992	20,942	28,821
EUREKA	6,200	6,713	10,599	12,116	22,736
LINK	74	1,508	4,472	9,969	15,483
SMART	3,206	6,533	10,120	12,140	12,113
SPUR	0	0	7	329	5,856
Total	19,914	25,161	38,190	55,496	85,009

Regional Development Funding

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the level of European regional development funding in each region in each year since 1984 (a) at current prices and (b) at 1984 prices.

European regional development fund allocations to the United Kingdom
£ million, 1984 prices
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
North	39	24	35	55	58	45	6	28	49
Yorkshire and Humberside	51	20	36	27	16	19	35	35	42
East Midlands	4	17	2	2	3	0	5	5	16
South West	28	10	20	25	15	4	4	3	8
West Midlands	18	44	36	58	21	0	87	22	31
North West	57	70	42	33	30	39	0	41	27
South East	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
ENGLAND	197	185	171	199	143	107	137	135	173

Dounreay

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a further statement on progress made by AEA Technology at the Dounreay nuclear establishment to secure the import of spent research reactor nuclear fuel from Iraq.

[holding answer 30 April 1993]: The IAEA issued a formal invitation, on 27 November 1992, to tender for the removal, transport and disposal of irradiated fuel stored in Iraq. No tender was submitted by the United Kingdom nuclear industry.

Innovation Schemes

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will provide information on the take up of each of the (a) Smart, (b) Spur, (c) advanced technology programmes, (d) Link and (e) Eureka innovation schemes;(2) if he will outline the expenditure, in constant prices, on each of the

(a) Link, (b) advanced technology programmes, (c) Smart, (d) Spur amd (e) Eureka schemes.

[holding answer 30 April 1993]: Information on take-up of the schemes listed is represented by the number of projects for which offers were accepted. Information on expenditure is presented in 1992–93 prices.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: European regional development fund allocations, in current and 1984 prices, to each of the regions of the United Kingdom are given in the tables:

	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
WALES	57	54	40	49	52	50	10	36	56
SCOTLAND	92	66	49	101	79	37	86	88	35
Multi Regional	1	0	12	2	1	10	0	0	8
GREAT BRITAIN	346	304	272	352	275	204	233	260	272
NORTHERN IRELAND	21	22	36	35	36	69	20	41	60
TOTAL UNITED KINGDOM	367	326	308	386	311	273	253	301	332

European regional development fund allocations to the United Kingdom
£ million, current prices
	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
North	39	25	39	63	70	57	8	39	72
Yorkshire and Humberside	51	21	40	31	19	24	45	48	61
East Midlands	4	18	2	3	3	0	6	7	23
South West	28	10	22	28	18	5	5	4	12
West Midlands	18	46	40	67	26	0	113	30	45
North West	57	74	47	38	36	49	0	56	40
South East	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
ENGLAND	197	195	190	230	172	134	179	184	252
WALES	57	57	45	56	63	63	13	50	81
SCOTLAND	92	69	54	117	94	46	112	120	51
Multi Regional	1	0	13	3	1	13	0	0	12
GREAT BRITAIN	346	321	302	406	330	256	304	355	395
NORTHERN IRELAND	21	23	40	40	43	87	26	56	87
TOTAL UNITED KINGDOM	367	344	342	446	373	343	330	410	482

"The Abuse Of Market Power"

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list all the individuals and bodies from which his Department received written or oral representation in connection with the Green Paper, "The Abuse of Market Power".

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: I refer the hon. Gentleman to the summary of responses to the Green Paper which was placed in the Vote Office when I announced to the House on 14 April the Government's decision to strengthen the existing legislation on abuse of market power. An appendix to the summary lists those who made representations on the Green Paper.

Wales

Fords

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many fords there are in Wales where public roads cross watercourses; how many fatal or serious accidents have occurred in each of the last 10 years as a result of vehicles failing to negotiate water on fords on public roads; if he will list fords which have been closed to traffic following such accidents; and what is his Department's policy towards fords and the provision of warning to motorists when water conditions may be dangerous.

There are no fords crossing trunk roads in Wales. Information on local authority roads is not held centrally. There are warning signs prescribed in the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 1981 which local authorities can use to alert drivers to the existence of a ford and to the depth of water.

Valleys Initiative

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the town-village regeneration schemes that have been undertaken under the valleys initiative to date, indicating the amount spent by his Department on each scheme; and if he will list forthcoming town-village centre regeneration schemes to be funded under the valleys initiative in the forthcoming year.

The table shows the urban development schemes which have been and will be funded by the Welsh Development Agency in the period from 1988 to 1994:

Welsh development agency urban development: programme for the valleys
Indicative expenditure 1988–89 to 1993–94						£000s
Town/Project	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94
Merthyr Tydfil	260	—	500	1,220	2,100	3,210
Cynon Valley	—	100	400	990	2,600	3,030
Abertillery	100	150	200	560	720	500
Ebbw Vale	—	70	—	155	200	300
Tredegar	—	—	—	—	350	1,795
Pontarddulais	50	—	565	435	540	150
Pontardawe	—	80	360	340	220	600
Ystalyfera	—	50	200	250	500	250
Neath/Dulais	100	100	—	100	—	—
Rhondda	—	240	190	340	500	800
Pontypridd	80	210	110	180	200	800
South Islwyn	—	120	175	280	90	500
Caerphilly/Abertridwr	—	—	200	150	350	150
Amman Valley Ammanford	—	50	186	—	—	200
Rhymney	40	80	—	—	—	—
Pontypool	—	—	—	—	50	680
Torfaen	—	300	—	125	300	—

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the environmental improvement schemes undertaken as part of the valleys initiative in each year from 1990; and if he will list forthcoming environmental schemes to be developed under the initiative in (a) 1993 and (b) 1994.

Under the programme for the valleys the Welsh Development Agency has supported 134 environmental improvement schemes since 1990.

Projects have included:	£
Garden Festival Approaches	383,000
Dowlais Top landscape works (Part of WDA/Welsh Office heads of valleys corridor project)	114,000
Landscape Works: Rassau and Gamlydan
Housing Estate
Blaenau Gwent	76,000
Landscape Works: Cefn Golau Housing Estate	17,000
Taff Trail long distance cycleway	95,000
Taff Valley Coed Cymru initiative	18,000
Alltwen Triangle landscaping	20,000
Brynamen Road landscaping Gwaun Cae Gurwen	25,000
Seven Sisters town centre improvements	48,000
Resolven town centre improvements	68,000
Resolven canal basin	50,000

In addition many environmental improvement projects have been supported by the urban programme and by groundwork trusts. It would not be possible to list every individual scheme other than at disproportionate cost.

Future Development

The WDA will be promoting a number of landscape and forest strategies in the valleys programme area. Four areas have so far been identified, namely:

Blaenau Gwent, Rhymney, Rhondda and Ogwr.

In each case there will be a package of action based on a landscape masterplan including the planting of new woodlands, management of existing woodlands, the upgrading of land reclamation sites, and a range of amenity creation and landscape projects in the urban fringe. These will be achieved in partnerships which will include local authorities, the Forest Authority and the Countryside Council for Wales.

Drugs And Alcohol

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what advice he has issued to local councils in relation to their responsibilities for drug and alcohol misusers under the community care arrangement.

Advice was issued to Welsh county councils on 1 April 1993 in Welsh Office circular WHC(93)30, copies of which are available in the Library of the House. This advice covers the councils' responsibilities to assess the needs of alcohol and drugs misusers and to plan and arrange appropriate services for these individuals under the general community care arrangements. It includes reference to residential care arrangements.

Income Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what percentage of the poorest 10 per cent. of the population of Wales were (a) pensioners, (b) families with children and (c) single people with children in each year since 1979.

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what was the estimated real income after housing costs of (a) the richest 10 per cent. of the population of Wales and (b) the poorest 10 per cent. in each year since 1979 and what was the average real income in Wales in each year since 1979;(2) what estimates he has of the number of households in Wales that currently have debts owing to three or more creditors and what was the number in

(a) 1981 (b) 1985 and (c) 1990.

This information is not available centrally.

Local Government Ombudsman

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the current state of the outstanding caseload for the local government ombudsman in Wales for cases waiting (a) three months, (b) six months and (c) nine months or longer to be investigated.

The Commission for Local Administration is an independent statutory body and questions relating to its activities are for the Commission itself to answer.The annual reports of the Local Commissioner, copies of which are in the Library of the House, provide statistics on the number of complaints received and the time taken to deal with them. The report for 1992–93 is likely to be available in June.

Local Government Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received to date in support of the local Government reform proposals set out for Dwyfor; and if he will indicate the number of representations received that were in favour of granting independent unitary authority status for (a) Meirionnydd and (b) Montgomery.

Since publishing my White Paper on 1 March 1993, I have received one written representation in support of a Caernarfonshire and Meirionnyddshire unitary authority. In addition, I have received 10 representations in favour of a Meirionnydd unitary authority and 181 representations in favour of a Montgomeryshire unitary authority. I have also received 4,135 signed postcards in favour of unitary authority status for Montgomeryshire.

Bypass Schemes

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the estimated cost of the proposed Builth Wells bypass, the estimated number of vehicles per day that will use it, the estimated timescale for completion, the length of delays currently experienced by drivers and the present level of accidents in Builth Wells.

The estimated cost of the Builth Wells bypass is £15 million (at out-turn prices). Depending on which route is chosen, some 6,500 vehicles a day could use the new road. The anticipated two year construction contract is currently programmed to start between April 1996 and March 1999, subject to the satisfactory completion of statutory procedures and the availability of funds. Traffic delays presently vary according to the time and season, but are particularly significant in the summer months. At the southern end of the proposed scheme, and in the town centre, the accident rate is above the national average. For the remainder, it is about the national average.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list all (a) town/village bypass schemes and (b) traffic calming measures undertaken by his Department within the south Wales valleys in each year from 1990; and if he will list the schemes which are intended to be developed in (i) 1993 and (ii) 1994.

The primary responsibility for the road network in the south Wales valleys rests with local authorities. No bypass schemes or traffic calming measures have been introduced in the valleys on trunk roads for which I am responsible since 1990. The A465 Aberdulais to Glynneath and the A470 Pentrebach to Cefn Coed improvements which it is planned to start in 1993–94 will each by-pass local communities. Road conditions are kept under review, but no specific traffic calming measures are planned on trunk roads in the valleys in 1993 or 1994.

Training And Enterprise Councils

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the 1993–94 budget for each training and enterprise council in Wales.

Welsh Office are currently finalising contracts with TECs for 1993–94 budgets and the information is not yet available.

Unitary Authorities

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many representations he has received in favour of his proposals to transfer the communities of Coychurch Lower, Ewenny, Saint Bride's Major and Wick into the Vale of Glamorgan, under his proposals for unitary authorities, from people living in these communities.

Since publishing my White Paper on 1 March 1993, I have received four such written representations in favour of my proposals to incorporate the communities of Coychurch Lower, Ewenny, Saint Bride's Major and Wick into a Vale of Glamorgan unitary authority.

Environmentally Sensitive Areas

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how much will be spent or has been spent in each year from 1990–91 to 1995–96 on (a) stage 1 ESAs, (b) stage 2 ESAs, (c) stage 3 ESAs and (d) stage 4 ESAs, identifying how much of the total is allocated for the public access payments; what is the amount to be spent on (i) nitrate sensitive areas, (ii) the moorland scheme, (iii) the habitat improvement scheme, (iv) set aside management, identifying how much of the total will be for public access payments and (v) organic farming in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

The information is as follows: Expenditure on ESA payments to farmers in Welsh ESAs was £0·9 million in 1990–91, £1·5 million in 1991–92 and £1·5 million in 1992–93.Planned expenditure is £5·8 million in 1993–94, £7·6 million in 1994–95 and £7·8 million in 1995–96.Public consultation proposals have been issued for public access to ESA land. Planned expenditure is £0·51 million in 1994–95 and £0·52 million in 1995–96. In addition to this expenditure on ESAs, we have also issued for public consultation proposals for a moorland scheme, a habitat improvement scheme, a meadowland scheme for public access to set-aside land and an organic scheme. Current plans for expenditure on payments to farmers under these new measures is £0·5 million in 1993–94, £2·4 million in 1994–95 and £4·8 million in 1995–96. The precise allocation between the schemes will be decided in the light of the results of the public consultation. I have no plans to designate any nitrate sensitive areas (NSAs) in Wales.

Pharmaceutical Services (Mold)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the factors upon which he based his decision to classify Mold and its outlying districts as a non-rural area for the purposes of the provision of pharmaceutical services.

Questions affecting the rurality of an area are governed by the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations, 1992. In considering the issue the Secretary of State has regard to the overall density of population, including any developments or population changes which may be expected; sizes of community; distance between settlements and the spread and frequency of public transport, together with the range of local services available.

Death Rates

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what guidelines he has issued, and what proposals he has to issue further guidelines, to health authorities and general practitioner fund-holding practices in Wales concerning the implications for purchasers of hospital health care of statistically significant variations in death rates in or just after treatment; and if he will make a statement;(2) what consultations he has had with the health authorities and hospital trusts in Wales in relation to the variations in performance in hospitals with respect to death rates during or just after hospital treatment;(3) what representations he has received with respect to the publication of league tables in relation to variations between hospitals in death rates during or just after surgery and other treatments

(a) with and (b) without standardisation for age and social condition of patient intake; and if he will make a statement;

(4) if he will publish figures indicating the gap between the highest and lowest death rate hospitals, with respect to death rates after (a) general surgery, (b) orthopaedic surgery and (c) other treatments, after standardising for age and social condition of the patient intake; and what proposals he has for improviong the performance of the hospitals with death rates related to treatment, that are markedly above average;

(5) what is the maximum differential gap in death rates between the lowest and highest death rate in Welsh hospitals following (a) general surgery, (b) orthopaedic surgery and (c) other treatments; and what proposals he has for improving the performance of these hospitals whose death rates after surgical treatment is higher than the norm.

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to his hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mr. Jones) on 30 April 1993 at column 589.

National Lottery

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his latest estimate of the finances that would accrue in a full year, after the deduction of all tax and other costs, from the national lottery to (a) sport in Wales, (b) performing arts in Wales, (c) other arts' activities in Wales and (d) other organisations or activities by type and category; and what percentage will be applied to revenue costs and capital costs, respectively, in each case.

It is not possible to predict how much the various categories of beneficiaries will receive from the national lottery. Distribution arrangements are the subject of discussions with the distributing bodies and with other Government Departments, and the relevant criteria will be published in due course. With the exception of charities, I expect the proceeds to be used for the most part for capital projects.

Strategy Resettlement Funding

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will provide a table showing all housing associations and other organisations which have applied for all-Wales strategy resettlement funding for 1993–94, the figure applied for in each case and the figure actually agreed by his Department.

Housing associations receive funding for strategy-related housing through Housing for Wales as part of their special needs programme. Special grants are made to county teams who negotiate and commission care at a local level with care management organisations. The programme for resettlement for this year (1993–94) will evolve during the year. However, the full year costs to counties to supply a comprehensive package of care, including accommodation for 110 individuals is estimated to be £5 million to the Welsh Office.

Grants

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what objectives he has set (a) each section of his Department and (b) each quango or body responsible in whole or in part to his Department for (i) the publication of information or criteria relating to grants available for 1993–94 (ii) the time to elapse between publication date and closing date (iii) the time for notification of a decision after the publication date and closing date, respectively, and (iv) the information to be provided to any unsuccessful applicant.

These matters differ from grant to grant and organisation to organisation. The information requested is not held centrally, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Hospital Services (South Glamorgan)

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 19 October 1992, Official Report, column 125, about the strategic plan for hospital services in South Glamorgan, what is his current estimate of the completion date of the strategic hospital planning review of South Glamorgan health authority.

While the issues of timing and content still remain a matter for the health authorities in South Glamorgan, I understand the issue of the review is imminent. I await it with interest.

Hospital Beds

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairmen of the South Glamorgan and Mid Glamorgan health authorities and the provost of the Welsh national school of medicine concerning the strategic review of future hospital arid bed supply and demand and regional services provision., what is his current estimate of the prospective completion date of the review; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 30 April 1993]: The review known as "Collaboration on Commissioning", which was completed in December 1992, is a matter for the health authorities and the University of Wales college of medicine.My right hon. Friend has had no meeting with the chairmen of South Glamorgan or Mid Glamorgan health authorities to discuss this review.

Northern Ireland

Job Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many new jobs have been created in the past two years, how many of these are now in existence; how many jobs have been lost during the same period; and if he will give details of the types of jobs created and lost.

Information on new job creations is not available except to the extent that 2,500 new jobs were created with assistance from the Local Enterprise Development Unit in the calendar year 1991 and 2,490 with assistance from the Industrial Development Board in the financial year 1991–92. All of these jobs were in the manufacturing and services sectors. Information on how many of these are still in existence could be provided only at disproportionate cost. Figures for jobs created in 1992 and 1992–93 are not yet available. The table shows redundancies notified to the Department of Economic Development in 1991 and 1992 and the sectors in which they occurred.

Confirmed redundancies
	1991	1992
Manufacturing	3,745	3,667
Construction	370	283
Services	1,163	1,368
Other industries	21	5
Total	5,299	5,323

Housing Development, Newtownards

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the application for housing development at The Oaks, Old Shore road, Newtownards—planning application No. 0028/93—has within his ownership or agreement with other landowners the land required to provide the sight lines in both directions from the entrance of the proposed development on to the public road.

Year ended 31 March 1992
Salaries and Wages	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Medical	10,857,873	9,264,640	45,639,656	9,011,950	74,774,119
Dental	657,852	646,167	3,328,520	917,642	5,550,181
Trained Nursing	35,547,724	32,511,106	97,564,997	34,853,875	200,477,702
Other Nursing	4,060,649	5,497,214	16,778,697	4,641,848	30,978,408
Student Nursing	1,413,441	1,071,898	12,275,416	2,417,602	17,178,357
Para-Medical	7,822,486	5,946,629	30,220,221	5,451,678	49,441,014

The certificate of land ownership which accompanied the application requires further investigation and I will write to the hon. Gentleman once this has been carried out.

Donaghadee Urban District Council

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, pursuant to his answer of 26 April, whether his Department has copies of the minutes of meetings of the former Donaghadee urban district council.

Copies of the minutes of meetings of the former Donaghadee urban district council are held in the Public Record Office. The minutes signed on 7 August 1945, show that the council approved a plan to divide Warren house, Donaghadee into two flats. However, as indicated in my reply of 26 April, the Department does not have a copy of any decision document pursuant to this meeting of the council.

Ports Privatisation

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will amend the draft Ports (Northern Ireland) Order 1993 so as to make the exercise of the proposed powers to privatise ports in Northern Ireland compulsorily subject to the affirmative parliamentary procedure.

This issue has been raised in a number of the representations received during the consultation period on the draft Ports (Northern Ireland) Order 1993. The responses have been extremely wide-ranging and I am considering them in detail before taking any decisions on the way forward.

Health Service Wages

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the total wage bill of hospital and community health services staff in each board area, in each of the last five years and projected for the next two years, broken down into the principal groups of staff, including consultants, junior doctors and nurses.

[holding answer 30 April 1993]: The information is not readily available in the form requested. The Northern Ireland health and social services boards provide integrated health and personal social services. The boards' accounts for 1992–93 are currently being prepared. However, for the last five years for which accounts are available the salaries and wages bill for each board are set out in the tables. It is not possible to provide accurate forecasts of future pay bills, although for the current financial year the Government's public sector pay restraint policy is designed to hold settlements to 1 per cent.

Salaries and Wages	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Pharmacy	702,694	685,762	2,520,212	591,065	4,499,733
Social Services	15,215,535	10,489,964	35,696,671	10,331,309	71,733,479
Home Helps	5,097,525	6,337,418	12,078,649	4,009,200	27,522,792
Administrative and Clerical	14,492,221	11,948,540	39,055,723	10,469,524	75,966,008
Domestic and Allied	9,553,491	7,028,102	37,082,454	7,336,035	61,000,082
Tradesmen	2,259,585	1,739,384	6,688,063	1,770,563	12,457,595
Ambulance	2,527,488	1,861,019	4,020,604	1,797,807	10,206,918
Other Grades	1,661,284	1,241,274	4,234,596	1,014,300	8,151,454
TOTAL	111,869,848	96,269,117	347,184,479	94,614,398	649,937,842

Year ended 31 March 1991
Salaries and Wages	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Medical	9,395,468	8,532,108	41,592,665	8,098,570	67,618,811
Dental	608,836	561,370	2,224,987	823,778	4,218,971
Trained Nursing	32,014,132	29,753,099	89,063,112	31,615,746	182,446,089
Other Nursing	3,454,762	4,765,650	13,835,590	3,823,978	25,879,980
Student Nursing	2,019,098	1,377,555	14,303,464	2,823,449	20,523,566
Para-Medical	6,594,455	5,211,693	26,757,616	4,827,378	43,391,142
Pharmacy	595,954	583,736	2,260,592	506,794	3,947,076
Social Services	13,676,336	9,478,819	32,582,283	9,264,670	65,002,108
Home Helps	4,572,915	5,865,088	11,441,670	3,776,492	25,656,165
Administrative and Clerical	11,897,290	9,551,542	32,718,131	8,577,568	62,744,531
Domestic and Allied	8,813,105	8,980,095	36,464,899	7,399,067	61,657,166
Tradesmen	2,174,325	1,689,771	6,319,575	1,625,955	11,809,626
Ambulance	2,329,043	1,718,948	3,719,830	1,632,276	9,400,097
Other Grades	1,501,552	1,266,709	4,401,367	1,054,176	8,223,804
TOTAL	99,647,271	89,336,183	317,685,781	85,849,897	592,519,132

Year ended 31 March 1990
Salaries and Wages	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Medical	8,404,625	7,481,029	37,562,527	6,663,507	60,111,688
Dental	522,778	544,932	1,985,297	616,934	3,669,941
Trained Nursing	29,537,228	28,396,668	85,749,268	29,736,471	173,419,635
Other Nursing	3,207,993	4,288,780	12,077,375	3,441,815	23,015,963
Student Nursing	2,196,196	1,545,937	12,198,990	2,739,662	18,680,785
Para-Medical	5,681,586	4,447,334	23,833,195	3,973,849	37,935,964
Pharmacy	504,847	343,644	1,835,626	425,165	3,109,282
Social Services	12,320,159	8,427,220	27,763,816	7,919,174	56,430,369
Home Helps	4,123,825	5,368,127	10,483,163	3,412,612	23,387,727
Administrative and Clerical	9,517,381	8,138,849	27,064,126	7,039,020	51,759,376
Domestic and Allied	8,596,144	9,364,311	35,119,034	8,915,478	61,994,967
Tradesmen	2,103,004	1,442,843	6,270,209	1,560,230	11,376,286
Ambulance	1,837,318	1,317,874	2,741,239	1,241,502	7,137,933
Other Grades	1,528,518	1,196,778	4,081,633	969,862	7,776,791
Total	90,081,602	82,304,326	288,765,498	78,655,281	539,806,707

Year ended 31 March 1989
Salaries and Wages	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Medical	7,678,916	7,130,059	34,825,759	6,259,215	55,893,949
Dental	546,769	512,004	2,176,636	588,609	3,824,018
Trained Nursing	28,545,400	26,930,776	81,431,637	28,986,430	165,894,243
Other Nursing	3,166,950	4,232,571	11,410,146	3,126,695	21,936,362
Student Nursing	2,078,282	1,602,090	13,583,907	2,340,112	19,874,391
Para-Medical	5,094,831	4,010,000	19,200,297	3,483,720	31,788,848
Pharmacy	441,900	369,354	1,605,101	413,840	2,830,195
Social Services	12,038,359	7,761,914	26,071,937	7,426,115	53,288,325
Home Helps	3,739,198	5,141,034	10,330,488	3,220,458	22,431,178
Administrative and Clerical	8,245,648	6,966,201	24,127,124	6,138,037	45,477,010
Domestic and Allied	8,469,583	8,959,119	33,542,449	9,546,583	60,517,734

Salaries and Wages	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Tradesmen	2,024,983	1,308,826	6,296,567	1,468,345	11,098,721
Ambulance	1,998,709	1,432,929	2,994,535	1,321,300	7,747,473
Other Grades	1,452,956	1,177,486	3,906,973	1,015,776	7,553,191
TOTAL	85,522,484	77,534,363	271,773,556	75,335,235	510,165,638

Year ended 31 March 1988
Salaries and Wages	Northern	Southern	Eastern	Western	Total
	£	£	£	£	£
Medical	6,975,393	6,253,181	31,547,797	5,455,613	50,231,984
Dental	578,741	451,204	1,866,935	668,600	3,565,480
Trained Nursing	24,309,370	22,884,704	66,536,343	24,156,932	137,887,349
Other Nursing	2,896,608	4,041,606	10,359,937	2,935,044	20,233,195
Student Nursing	2,025,578	1,544,402	13,349,980	2,592,894	19,512,854
Para-Medical	4,533,036	3,393,604	17,572,398	2,963,565	28,462,603
Pharmacy	396,187	334,802	1,369,735	371,617	2,472,341
Social Services	10,969,179	6,974,665	23,369,826	6,606,819	47,920,489
Home Helps	3,671,358	4,881,977	9,938,176	3,330,588	21,822,099
Administrative and Clerical	7,578,908	6,440,513	22,204,442	5,537,068	41,760,931
Domestic and Allied	8,172,924	8,603,619	32,049,983	9,354,802	58,181,328
Tradesmen	2,025,649	1,430,688	6,184,258	1,403,969	11,044,564
Ambulance	1,922,675	1,444,550	2,813,902	1,298,892	7,480,019
Other Grades	1,292,214	1,065,708	3,617,468	924,405	6,899,795
TOTAL	77,347,820	69,745,223	242,781,180	67,600,808	457,475,031

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what have been the changes in average pay levels for general practitioners, nurses, consultants and hospital porters in Northern Ireland since May 1990.

[holding answer 30 April 1993]: The information is set out in the table. Average monetary changes could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

	Increase for 1991–92	Increase for 1992–93	Increase for 1993–94
Group	Per cent.	Per cent.	Per cent.
General practitioners	9·50	5·50	1·50
Nurses and midwives	8·20	5·80	¹1·50
Senior nurses/midwives	7·43	3·90	²—
Consultants	10·50	5·50	1·50
Hospital porters	8·80	4·93	¹1·50
¹ Offered.
² No offer yet.

Community Midwives

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many community midwives are employed by each health board in Northern Ireland.

Average equivalised disposable income and percentage shares by households type and by quintile groups of households ranked by equivalised disposable income
Using the McClements equivalence scale re-scaled so that a household of one adult = 1
£ per year
	Bottom	2nd	3rd	4th	Top	All
1979
Households with children
Average	1,161	1,706	2,223	2,882	4,462	2,405
Percentage share of total income	2	6	10	10	9	37
Other households
Average	1,186	1,654	2,240	2,947	4,494	2,558
Percentage share of total income	7	7	8	13	27	63

[holding answer 30 April 1993]: The number of community midwives employed by each health and social services board at 31 December 1992 was as follows:

Board	Number	Whole-time equivalent
Eastern	61	57·45
Northern	35	31·13
Southern	27	23·65
Western	42	41·75

National Finance

Incomes

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the percentage share, and average amount per equivalent adult at 1990 prices, of disposable income by quintile groups of households for (a) households with children, (b) other households and (c) all households, for 1979, 1987 and 1990.

The information is not available in the precise form requested because the equivalence scale used is based on households rather than adults. In addition the figures are only available at current prices.

	Bottom	2nd	3rd	4th	Top	All
All households
Average	1,180	1,677	2,231	2,918	4,487	2,498
Percentage share of total income	9	13	18	23	36	100
1987
Households with children
Average	2,225	3,329	4,547	6,184	10,763	5,059
Percentage share of total income	3	4	7	8	9	31
Other households
Average	2,297	3,253	4,538	6,273	11,473	4,548
Percentage share of total income	6	8	9	14	32	69
All households
Average	2,273	5,372	7,446	10,228	18,544	9,063
Percentage share of total income	8	12	16	23	41	100
1990
Households with children
Average	2,632	4,237	6,062	8,766	15,627	6,976
Percentage share of total income	2	4	7	8	9	30
Other households
Average	2,688	4,085	6,110	8,698	16,752	7,934
Percentage share of total income	5	7	9	15	33	70
All households
Average	2,671	4,134	6,089	8,721	16,493	7,621
Percentage share of total income	7	11	16	23	43	100

Percentages are rounded independently and may not sum to row or column totals.

Households with children have fallen as a proportion of the sample from 39 per cent. in 1979 to 33 per cent. in 1990. This is the main reason that their share of income has fallen from 37 per cent. in 1979 to 30 per cent. in 1990. The variation in the shares of income between household types by quintile group is mainly a reflection of the different composition of the quintile groups.

These figures are not strictly comparable over time because of changes in classification of both income and taxation and because of changes in the family expenditure survey.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total value of equivalised disposable income, at 1990 prices, for all households for the years 1977 to 1990, on the basis given in Economic Trends for January 1993, page 187.

The information is not available in the precise form requested. The total value of equivalised disposable income for households in the sample at current prices can be obtained by multiplying the sample size by the average equivalised disposable income. It is not

Average values of taxes and benefits, for bottom and top quintiles ranked by equivalised disposable income of all households
Households with children
	1979		1987		1990
	Bottom	Top	Bottom	Top	Bottom	Top
£ per year
Contributory cash benefits	328	112	396	115	370	156
Non-Contributory cash benefits	1,066	355	3,356	700	3,689	735
Direct Taxes and NIC	461	2,772	721	7,728	1,026	9,748
Indirect taxes	695	1,817	1,442	3,653	1,772	4,805
Equivalised disposable income¹	1,903	7,314	3,648	17,645	4,315	25,618
Benefits in kind	1,883	1,182	3,529	2,511	4,367	3,061
Final income	4,072	9,839	7,261	23,703	8,500	34,397
¹ Using the McClements equivalence scale with a household of a married couple = 1.

Notes:

Due to possible mis-recording of some non-contributory benefits as contributory benefits, the split between the two types of benefit should be treated with caution.

The equivalence scales used in the analysis are only applicable to disposable income. It is not appropriate to apply them to other income measures or composite parts of those measures.

These figures are not strictly comparable over time because of changes in classification of taxes and benefits and because of changes in the Family Expenditure Survey.

possible to calculate the total value for all households in the United Kingdom as the appropriate grossing factors are not available.

The average values of equivalised disposable income for all households for alternate years from 1977 to 1987 and for 1988 are published in the March 1991 edition of "Economic Trends", the average values for 1989 and 1990 are published in the January 1992 and January 1993 editions respectively. The January 1993 edition of "Economic Trends" has references to the annual articles.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the average value in 1979, 1987 and 1990, at 1990 prices per equivalent adult in households with children of (a) contributory benefits in cash, (b) non-contributory benefits in cash, (c) direct taxes, (d) indirect taxes, (e) equivalised disposable income, (f) benefits in kind and (g) final income, within the bottom and top quintiles of all households ranked by disposable income.

The information is not available in the precise form requested because the equivalence scale used is based on households rather than adults. In addition, the figures are available only at current prices.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the (a) total income of the top 1 per cent. of taxpayers, (b) unearned income of the top 1 per cent. of taxpayers, (c) unearned income of all taxpayers, (d) total number of taxpayers and (e) number of taxpayers in the top 1 per cent. in each year since 1979;(2) what was the total unearned income of

(a) all taxpayers and (b) the top 1 per cent. of taxpayers divided into income from (i) shares and securities, (ii) bank and interest-bearing accounts, (iii) building societies accounts and deposits, (iv) rents, (v) pensions and annuities and (vi) other, with details for each year since 1979.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: Available information is given in the tables. Estimates of income are based on information reported to tax offices and collected through annual surveys of personal incomes. For years before 1985–86, estimates exclude employees' contributions to occupational pension schemes and some investment income on which tax is deducted at source. It is therefore not possible to provide estimates of the total unearned income of all taxpayers, although information on the top 1 per cent. of taxpayers is available. For years up to and including 1989–90, married couples are counted

£ billion
	All taxpayers				Top 1 per cent. of taxpayers
	Dividends	Bank and Building Society Interest	Rents	Other unearned income	Dividends	Bank and Building Society Interest	Rents	Other unearned income
1978–79	—	—	—	—	0·5	0·1	0·1	0·4
1983–84	—	—	—	—	0·7	0·3	0·2	0·8
1984–85	—	—	—	—	0·6	0·4	0·2	0·7
1985–86	—	—	—	—	0·8	0·8	0·2	0·6
1986–87	3·7	11·8	1·0	2·7	1·0	0·8	0·3	0·7
1987–88	4·8	12·1	1·1	3·0	1·2	0·8	0·2	0·9
1988–89	6·9	13·4	1·5	3·6	2·5	1·3	0·3	1·1
1989–90	8·1	21·0	2·0	4·2	3·3	1·6	0·5	1·7
1990–91	8·7	26·4	1·8	5·0	3·0	2·0	0·4	1·8

Employment Earnings

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the total earnings in (a) cash and (b) real terms from self-employment and employment in the manufacturing and service sectors by standard industrial classification of the earnings source in (a) 1963, (b) 1974, (c) 1979 and (d) the most recent period for which information is available; and what were the percentage changes for each sector between each of those successive dates.

Figures for income from employment in the manufacturing and service sectors, analysed on the basis of the standard industrial classification in use at the time of publication, may be found in the following CSO publications:

1963	National Income and Expenditure 1963–73: tables 18 and 20 (wages and salaries only).
1974	(on 1968 Standard industrial Classification): National Income and Expenditure 1982 edition: tables 3.1 and 3.3.
1974	(on 1980 classification) and later years may be found in the appropriate issues of the National Accounts Blue Book, Tables 2.1 and 2.3, and also on the CSO database, which can be accessed by the House of Commons Library.

as one taxpayer and their incomes are combined. Following the introduction of independent taxation, for 1990–91 onwards, husbands and wives are counted separately. Estimates for 1991–92 and 1992–93 are based on projections of the 1990–91 survey and are therefore provisional, and detailed information on the breakdown of unearned income is not available.

	Total income of top 1 per cent, of taxpayers	Total unearned income of top 1 per cent, of taxpayers	Total unearned income of all taxpayers	Total taxpayers	Number of taxpayers in top 1 per cent.
	£ billion	£ billion	£ billion	(million)	(thousands)
1978–79	5·0	1·2	—	21·4	214
1983–84	9·7	1·9	—	20·4	204
1984–85	10·9	1·8	—	20·2	202
1985–86	12·9	2·3	—	20·2	202
1986–87	14·6	2·8	19·2	20·4	204
1987–88	16·4	3·1	21·0	20·8	208
1988–89	21·2	5·3	25·4	21·3	213
1989–90	24·2	7·0	35·2	21·5	215
1990–91	28·3	7·2	41·9	26·0	260
1991–92	29·0	6·5	35·2	25·3	253
1992–93	28·7	6·6	31·8	24·7	247

Estimates of income from self-employment by sector are not available.

There are no official estimates of components of personal incomes measured at constant prices.

Ministers' Accommodation

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to tax the benefits in kind received by Ministers who have access to official accommodation; and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans to change the tax treatment of any accommodation, provided for Ministers.

London And Bishopsgate Investment Management

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on what date London and Bishopsgate International Investment Management plc applied to his Department for a principal's licence to carry on the business of dealing in securities under the provisions of the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958.

On 28 February 1988.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 13 January, Official Report, column 749, to which firm or sole trader, whose application was received after 27 February 1988, his Department granted a licence to carry on the business of dealing in securities under the provisions of the Prevention of Fraud (Investments) Act 1958.

London and Bishopsgate International Investments Management plc.

Matrix Churchill

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer why a package sent recently, via Federal Express, by Mr. Douglas Franze from Washington, USA, addressed to Mr. Paul Henderson, a former managing director of Matrix Churchill, was inspected by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise; and if he will make a statement.

As part of their general anti-smuggling activity Customs and Excise regularly examine a proportion of imported packages to check for undeclared goods and to protect society from the importation of items which are prohibited or restricted.

Petroleum Revenue Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the impact upon the Scottish oil industry of the Budget proposals for changes in petroleum revenue taxation.

To the extent that production is within the charge to petroleum revenue tax (PRT), doubling investors' marginal share of profit should encourage investment in, and extend the life of, fields. Removing the burden of PRT from new fields will both increase after-tax costs and increase after-tax profits that would have been subject to PRT. So companies will have greater incentives to undertake commercially-viable investment. That should prove beneficial to the United Kingdom offshore industry and its onshore support, including onshore support situated in Scotland.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much of the total exploration and appraisal relief given against PRT liabilities over the last three years was allocated to (a) wells, (b) seismic, (c) overheads, (d) insurance and (e) other expenditure.

I regret that the information requested is not available.

Environment

Local Government Finance

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to receive the Audit Commission report into local government finance.

I understand that the Audit Commission plan to publish its report into standard spending assessments around the middle of May.

Local Government Reform

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the reasons for creating a commission to investigate local Government reform in England.

We established the Local Government Commission to make recommendations on local government structure and boundaries having regard to the need to reflect the identities and interests of local communities and to secure effective and convenient local government, against the background of a variety of existing local authorities in England.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many local authorities, of each type, existed in England on 31 March 1974; how many of each type now exist; and when he expects the commission on local government reform to report.

In England, on 31 March 1974 there were:

	Number
County councils	45
Greater London council	1
County boroughs	79
Non-county boroughs	227
Urban district councils	449
Rural district councils	410
London boroughs	32
City of London	1

At present there are:

	Number
County councils	39
Shire district councils	296
Metropolitan district councils	36
London boroughs	32
City of London	1

The Local Government Commission is carrying out its reviews of local government structure in the shire counties of England in rolling programme. The commission will be making recommendations to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State as it completes each review. The commission has submitted its final report on the future structure of local government on the Isle of Wight and it is currently reviewing the other areas in the first tranche of its work programme.

Estate Action

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many properties in Estate Action schemes have been disposed of to the private sector.

Excluding properties sold under the right to buy, it is expected that some 29,000 dwellings will have been disposed of to the private sector by the end of 1993–94.

Urban Development Corporations

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present value of land held by each urban development corporation.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on Wednesday 8 July 1992, Official Report, column 253.

Industrial And Provident Societies

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to amend the Industrial and Provident Societies Acts; and if his consultations about changes will include housing associations.

I have been asked to reply.The Government have no plans at present to amend the current legislation.

Employment

Radiation Exposure

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what changes she proposes to make in the occupational radiation exposure limits.

The UK's radiation dose limits for workers, comply with the current EC (Euratom) Directive on basic standards for radiation protection. Revision of this directive, and the dose limits therein, will begin later this year. There are no plans to reduce dose limits in advance of revision of the directive.

Graduate

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what measures her Department is taking to reduce the number of university graduates who are unemployed.

The Employment Department is providing a wider range of measures than ever before to provide all unemployed people, including graduates, with the help they need to find a job. Some of these measures may be particularly appropriate for graduates, for example job review workshops, job search seminars or executive jobclubs. Training and enterprise councils have discretion to tailor training for work programmes specifically for unemployed graduates.

Employment Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what percentage of female employees work (a) full time and (b) part time;(2) what percentage of male employees work

(a) full time and (b) part time.

In December 1992, 54 per cent. of female employees in the United Kingdom worked full time and 46 per cent. worked part time. At the same date 89 per cent. of male employees worked full time and 11 per cent. worked part time.

Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement on the youth training credit pilot schemes.

On 8 March, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced the next 10 training and enterprise councils (TECs) in England and Wales to be asked to develop youth credits. This round, the third in the progressive extension of the initiative, brings the number of TECs (and local enterprise companies in Scotland) offering or developing credits for young people to 34. The Government's aim is that, by 1996, every 16 and 17 year old who chooses to leave full-time education will have the offer of a credit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when she will publish guidelines for the operating of training for work schemes.

Planning guidance for 1993–94 was issued to training and enterprise councils (TECs) on 4 December 1992. The operating agreement, setting out the contractual requirements for running training for work was issued to TECs during the first week in March.

Maternity Leave

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations she has received from employers and employers organisations on the extension of the 14-week maternity leave period set out in the Trade Union Reform and Employment Rights Bill to 18 weeks.

We have received one letter from an employer and one from an employers' organisation calling for an extension of the maternity leave period to 18 weeks. The Government are, however, satisfied from the extensive consultations carried out on the EC Pregnant Workers Directive that the great majority of employers wish the burdens on business arising from its implementation to be kept to a minimum.

Health And Safety

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she has any plans to extend the pilot scheme currently running in Scotland involving public access to health and safety inspectors' reports.

This exercise in making some information of inspectors reports publicly available was set up by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) on a pilot basis and encompasses reports on inspections made by the field operations division in Scotland from 5 January 1993. It is intended that the exercise will cover inspections made until at least 30 June. I am informed that the HSE will be evaluating the exercise over the next few weeks before deciding whether to extend it.

Mine Safety

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what actions she proposes to take to secure amendment to the regulations concerning mine safety; what proposals she has received to this end; and if she will make a statement.

In 1983 the Health and Safety Commission, which advises my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State on health and safety legislation, put in hand a programme to renew mining legislation. Regulations have been made, and codes of practice approved, for safety of exits at mines, electricity at work at mines, explosives in coal and other safety-lamp mines, and shafts and winding in mines. My right hon. Friend has recently received proposals for regulations and an approved code of practice for the management and administration of safety and health at mines.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy in her consideration of changes to the safety regulations applying to mines to adhere to the principles relating to maintenance or improvement of existing regulations set out in section 1 of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974.

The replacement of pre-1974 health and safety legislation is subject to section 1(2) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 which requires such replacement to maintain or improve the standards of health, safety and welfare established by or under the earlier legislation.The Health and Safety Commission and the Government are committed to the maintenance and improvement of safety standards within the mining industry and this will remain a constant and paramount objective.

Industrial Action

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will publish the number of days lost due to official and unofficial industrial action for each year since 1978; and if she will make a statement.

Because of the practical difficulties in distinguishing between official and unofficial disputes such an analysis was discontinued in 1981. However, a special exercise for the Government's Green Paper "Unofficial Action and the Law", showed that approximately 1·3 million working days were lost in unofficial stoppages in 1988, more than one third of the 3·7 million days lost in the year. Data for 1978 to 1980 are as follows:

Table 6.1 Defendants¹ proceeded against at magistrates' courts by type of offence Extract from Criminal Statistics England and Wales 1991
		Number of defendants (thousands)			Percentage
		Indictable offences	Summary offences		Indictable offences	Summary offences
Year	Total number proceeded against (thousands)		Offences (excluding motoring offences)	Motoring offences		Offences (excluding motoring offences)	Motoring offences
Persons aged 10 and under 17
1981	130	95	22	13	73	17	10
1982	121	90	20	12	74	16	9
1983	112	82	20	11	73	17	10
1984	105	78	17	9	75	16	9
1985	94	71	15	8	76	16	8
1986	75	57	11	6	76	15	8
1987	68	53	10	5	78	15	7
1988	62	48	10	4	77	16	7
1989	55	37	14	4	66	26	8
1990	54	36	13	4	67	25	8
1991	50	35	12	4	69	24	7
Persons aged 17 and under 21
1981	390	144	85	161	37	22	41
1982	394	152	82	160	38	21	41
1983	394	149	86	159	38	22	40
1984	372	148	79	145	40	21	39
1985	364	149	75	140	41	21	38

Year	Working days lost Known official	(Thousands) Unofficial and not known
1978	4,052	5,353
1979	23,512	5,962
1980	10,081	1,883

Wages Councils

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations she has received against the abolition of wages councils since the Trade Union and Employment Rights Bill received its Third Reading in the House.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: I have received a number of representations since Third Reading in the House, both supporting and opposing abolition. Since announcement of the Bill over 85 per cent. of letters from employers and employer bodies support abolition.

Lord Chancellors Department

Juvenile Courts

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many children were brought before juvenile courts in each of the last five years; and how many of them had school reports submitted on their behalf.

I have been asked to reply.Information on juveniles aged 10 and under 17 proceeded against at magistrates courts is published annually in "Criminal Statistics, England and Wales". Table 6.1 refers. The latest available figures are for 1991; 1992 figures will be available in the autumn.Information on the number of school reports submitted to youth courts is not collected centrally.

		Number of defendants (thousands)			Percentage
		Indictable offences	Summary offences		Indictable offences	Summary offences
Year	Total number proceeded against (thousands)		Offences (excluding motoring offences)	Motoring offences		Offences (excluding motoring offences)	Motoring offences
1986	339	133	70	136	39	21	40
1987	325	140	74	110	43	23	34
1988	322	137	79	106	43	25	33
1989	324	122	90	112	38	28	35
1990	329	129	85	114	39	26	35
1991	314	132	73	110	42	23	35
Defendants aged 21 and over¹
1981	1,774	284	365	1,125	16	21	63
1982	1,706	297	366	1,042	17	21	61
1983	1,797	300	415	1,082	17	23	60
1984	1,708	295	385	1,028	17	23	60
1985	1,689	299	379	1,011	18	22	60
1986	1,757	273	427	1,057	16	24	60
1987	1,451	295	421	735	20	29	51
1988	1,480	310	454	716	21	31	48
1989	1,484	290	464	730	20	31	49
1990	1,509	304	478	727	20	32	48
1991	1,591	323	488	780	20	31	49
All Defendants¹
1981	2,294	523	472	1,299	23	21	59
1982	2,221	539	469	1,214	24	21	55
1983	2,303	530	521	1,252	23	23	54
1984	2,184	521	482	1,181	24	22	54
1985	2,147	520	469	1,158	24	22	54
1986	2,171	463	508	1,199	21	23	55
1987	1,843	488	505	850	26	27	46
1988	1,863	494	543	826	27	29	44
1989	1,864	449	568	847	24	30	45
1990	1,892	469	577	846	25	31	45
1991	1,956	489	573	894	25	29	46
¹Including "other defendants", i.e., companies, public bodies, etc.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Cyprus

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will hold an early meeting with representatives of the Turkish Cypriot community.

Our aim is to give effective support to the continuing inter-communal negotiations on Cyprus under UN auspices. The timing of any possible meeting with Turkish Cypriot representatives must be carefully considered in the light of progress in those negotiations.

Radio 4

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action the United Kingdom's ambassador in Bonn has taken in respect of the petition received signed by listeners in Germany on the retention of Radio 4 on long wave; and if he will make a statement.

Her Majesty's ambassador in Bonn has forwarded the petition to London for the BBC, who are reviewing their future plans for transmitting Radio 4, taking into account the various representations which they are receiving.

Cambodia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what position the United Kingdom representative on the United Nations Security Council will take in relation to a continuing UN presence in Cambodia following the holding of elections there; and if he will make a statement.

The mandate of the UN transitional authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) is due to end with the formation of a new Cambodian Government three months after the Constituent Assembly elections on 23–27 May. The UN is likely to maintain a strong presence in Cambodia after this through its specialised and humanitarian agencies and programmes, including for example UNESCO, FAO/WFP, UNDP and UNICEF.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what position the United Kingdom representative at the United Nations is taking in relation to requests for a war crimes tribunal or special genocide commission to investigate the actions of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

No such proposal is currently under consideration at the United Nations. In the absence of an international tribunal with jurisdiction to try Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge for genocide, Pol Pot and his associates would have to be brought before a competent Cambodian court. It is therefore for the new Cambodian Government to decide whether to bring them to trial. If this were to happen, we would be the last to object.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he is taking to assist the release of funds promised by the United Nations to Cambodia for reconstruction and the clearing of land mines.

The international community has pledged $880 million for the reconstruction of Cambodia over a number of years, of which some $94·3 million has been disbursed. The flow of international aid is likely to increase substantially once a new government is in place in Phnom Penh. We regret the failure so far of the Supreme National Council of Cambodia to sign an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development package to help with the reconstruction of Cambodia, and urge all Cambodian parties to reach agreement on this as soon as possible. We have pledged some $30 million of aid since October 1991 of which $23 million has been committed. We have contributed funds to the HALO Trust, a British non-governmental organisation involved in mine clearance in Cambodia and to the funding of the Cambodian mine action centre through our assessed contribution to the UN transitional authority in Cambodia.

Political Parties (Funding)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the information available to him on the systems of state funding for political parties in the G7 group of countries, and in the Council of Europe.

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

Commonwealth Of Independent States

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out the number of United Kingdom representatives in each of the constituent nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The numbers of United Kingdom-based staff are as follows:

	Number
Ukraine	19
Moscow	83
St. Petersburg	7
Kazakhstan	3

We propose to open posts in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Belarus shortly. The other countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States are covered by United Kingdom staff based in Moscow.

Conference On Security And Co-Operation In Europe

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which states are in membership of the CSCE at the present time; and which of these belonged in November 1990.

There are currently 53 states participating in the CSCE. A copy of the list has been placed in the Library of the House. This list also indicates which states belonged to the CSCE in November 1990.Yugoslavia was suspended from participation in all CSCE activity in July 1992. The Czech Republic and Slovakia were admitted as separate countries on 1 January 1993. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was granted observer status at the committee of senior officials meeting on 28 April.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the names and nationalities of the committee of senior officials of the CSCE.

Meetings of the committee of senior officials are attended by representatives from each CSCE participating state, either its representative (normally an Ambassador) in Vienna or a senior official from its Foreign Ministry. The United Kingdom is normally represented by Mr. David Logan, an assistant undersecretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. By way of illustration a list of delegates at the committee of senior officials meeting in Prague from 2–4 February has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the locations of all the offices of the secretariat, the committee of senior officials and all other institutions of the CSCE.

The main centre for CSCE institutions is Vienna where the following are located: the conflict prevention centre and its secretariat, the Vienna group of the committee of senior officials, the secretariat for the Forum for Security Co-operation and the secretariat facilities for the CFE treaty and open skies implementation group. The recently appointed secretary-general will also have his office in Vienna.By tradition the committee of senior officials meets in Prague and is serviced by the CSCE secretariat there.There are three other CSCE institutions: the CSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights is situated in Warsaw; the office of the CSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities is in The Hague; the Parliamentary Assembly of the CSCE has its office in Copenhagen.Finally, the CSCE has resident preventative diplomacy missions in a number of conflict or potential conflict areas and sanctions assistance missions in countries neighbouring Serbia and Montenegro.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the subsidiary working bodies, committees and structures established by the committee of senior officials of the CSCE together with the names and nationalities of their members.

The Council of Ministers of the CSCE, meeting in Stockholm in December 1992, instructed representatives of participating states to meet regularly in Vienna between sessions of the committee of senior officials (CSO). This body is now known as the CSO Vienna group.Ad Hoc groups of all participating states may also be formed to deal with a specific task. These are then dissolved after their task has been completed. There are currently ad hoc groups dealing with the management of CSCE resources and with CSCE structures and institutions. A group will shortly be established to consider the legal status of CSCE institutions.An informal financial committee of experts meets as and when required to review the budgets proposed for CSCE institutions and activities and to make recommendations to the CSO.

Sudan

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of the Sudan about the arrest, detention, and release of members of the Umma party in Sudan in April.

We raised with the Sudanese the brief detention in April of Sadiq al-Mandi, leader of the Umma party, and we shall continue to monitor cases of arbitrary arrest in the Sudan.

India

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Indian Government on behalf of Mr. Pritam Sing Kang and his case of mistaken identity at New Delhi airport.

The High Commission in New Delhi was not contacted at the time and has no trace of the incident, but has written twice to the foreigners regional registration officer requesting a report. It has not so far received a reply.The Indian authorities alone decide who may or may not enter Indian territory and we have no standing to challenge their decision.

North Korea

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the decision of North Korea to withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty.

The United Kingdom is determined to maintain and strengthen the non-proliferation treaty. We deeply regret the announcement by North Korea on 12 March of their intention to withdraw from the Treaty. With the Treaty's other co-depositaries and with our European partners we have urged North Korea to reconsider their position. We are now participating actively in discussions in the United Nations Security Council aimed at ensuring North Korea's compliance with their treaty obligations.

Gibraltar

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the procedure necessary to provide for the election by Gibraltar of a member of the European Parliament; and what is the Government's policy on this issue.

Gibraltar does not participate in elections to the European Parliament. We have no plans to change this situation. Annex II of the EC Act on Direct Elections of 1976 limits the franchise for elections to the European Parliament to the United Kingdom.

Entry Clearance

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the estimated cost of the proposed monitoring officer examining refusals of entry clearance where there is no right of appeal.

It is too early to make firm costings.

Council Of Ministers

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a statement of forthcoming business in the European Community's Council of Ministers.

The following meetings are planned:

4 May: Industrial Affairs Council
10 May: Telecommunications Council
10–11 May: Foreign Affairs Council
11 May: Foreign Affairs/Gulf Cooperation Council
17 May: Cultural Affairs Council
24–25 May: Agricultural Council
25 May: Development Council
27 May: Health Council

The following subjects are likely to be discussed:(a)

Industrial Affairs Council—4 May

Restructuring of the steel industry of the Community
ECSC Treaty
Industrial competitiveness and environmental protection
State Aid for ship building
Maritime industries
Small and medium sized enterprises. Community measures to intensify and ensure the continuity of a policy for enterprise.

(b) Telecommunications Council—10 May

European Telecommunications Equipment Industry (8304/ 92; 5704/92)
Telecommunications Services Review
Open network provision voice telephoning directive (8840/92)
Postal services Green paper
Introduction of Advanced Television Services (6242/92)
Development of Technology and Standards in the Advanced
Television Sector

Trade Policy Questions
Relations with the EP
Commission report on access to information
Russia
Central and Eastern Europe
Ex-Yugoslavia
Preparation of EC/ACP Ministerial—17–18 May
Preparation of EC/GCC Ministerial
Preparation of OECD Ministerial: trade and environment

(d) EC/Gulf Co-operation Council—11 May

Implementation of the Co-operation Agreement
Exchange of views on the development of economic relations between the countries of the GCC and the Community
Report of Joint Co-operation Committee to the Joint
Co-operation Council on the implementation of the Co-operation Agreement
Exchange of views on developments in the two regions:
Gulf Co-operation Council
European Community
Exchange of views on questions of political interest

(e) Cultural Affairs Council—17 May

European Cultural Month 1995
The Media Programme
The Artemis Programme
Draft resolution to create a scheme for the translation of dramatic works
Future work on books and reading

(f) Agriculture Council—24–25 May

Price fixing
Milk
Sugar
Cereal Quality
GATT

Potatoes
CAT reform
Portuguese wine distillation

(g) Development Council—25 May

Development Co-operation in the run-up to 2000
Human rights, Democracy and Development
Population Policy Family planning
Emergency Aid
Untying of Aid
Women in development
UNCED follow-up
The Special EC initiative for Africa

(h) Health Council—27 May

Resolution of future actions in the field of public health
Conclusions on reduction of consumption of tobacco
Policy debate on tobacco advertising
Conclusions on "Europe against AIDS" programme
Conclusions on "Europe against Cancer" programme (poss)
Conclusions on "Smoking in Public Places"—(5867/93)

The Industrial Affairs Council will meet on 4 May and will discuss restructuring of the steel industry of the Community; ECSC Treaty; Industrial competitiveness and environmental protection. Ministers will also discuss state aid for shipbuilding and maritime industries. There will be a policy discussion on small and medium sized enterprises.

The Telecommunications Council will meet on 10 May to attempt to reach a common position on ONP voice telephony. Adoption of Council conclusions on the Commission Communication on the European Telecommunication Equipment Industry will be sought. Ministers will seek to adopt the proposed decision on the introduction of advanced television services. Adoption is also sought on the proposed Council resolution on the development of Technology and Standards in the Advanced Television Sector. The Postal Services Green paper is also scheduled for discussion.

The Foreign Affairs Council will meet on 10–11 May. EC Foreign Ministers will consider Trade Policy Questions; relations with the EP; Commission report on access to information. Ministers will also consider Russia; Central and Eastern Europe and Ex-Yugoslavia.

The Foreign Affairs/Gulf Cooperation Council will meet on 11 May to discuss the implementation of the Cooperation agreement. Ministers will also exchange views on developments in the two regions and on questions of political interest.

The Cultural Affairs Council will meet on 17 May. The agenda has not yet been finalised, but the European Cultural Month 1995, the media programme, and the Artemis programme are likely to be discussed. There may also be a draft resolution to create a scheme for the translation of dramatic works. Future work on books and reading may also be discussed.

The Agricultural Council will meet on 24–25 May. Ministers will discuss price fixing; milk, sugar; cereal quality; GATT; potatoes; CAP reform and Portuguese wine distillation.

The Development Council is planned for 25 May. The agenda has not yet been finalised, but development Cooperation in the run-up to 2000; Human Rights—Democracy and development; and Population Policy—family planning are likely to be discussed. Emergency Aid, Untying of Aid and women in development are also likely to be discussed. Ministers may also discuss UNCED follow-up and the "Special EC initiative for Africa".

The Health Council will meet on 27 May to discuss a resolution on future actions in the field of public health. Ministers will discuss the draft decision on the cancer programme which notes the Commission's report on the effectiveness of action undertaken in the "Europe Against Cancer" programme over the past five years. Ministers will discuss the conclusions on "Europe against AIDS" programme and the conclusions on reducing smoking in the Community which stress the importance of price as a mechanism to reduce tobacco consumption. The conclusions on smoking in public places will also be discussed.

Un Register Of Conventional Arms Transfers

To the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by what date the Government submitted to the United Nations' Secretary General a return from the United Kingdom to the UN register of conventional arms transfers in New York; and if he will place a copy of the return in the Library.

We submitted our first return to the UN Register to the UN Secretary General on 30 April. It covers major arms imports and exports during the calendar year 1992. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

Mr Mohammed Gham Ghani

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he is going to make a recommendation in the case (Ref: CON/4028) of Shenaz Begum, Afsar Khan and Shaira Begum, the children of Mr. Mohammed Gham Ghani, referred to his Department by the post in Islamabad on 2 March; and if he will make a statement.

The immigration service interviewed Mr. Mohammed Ghani on 18 April. When a copy of the interview notes is received from them, the passport applications made to the British High Commission at Islamabad on behalf of Mr. Ghani's three children, will be considered again.I will write to the hon. Member as soon as a decision has been made on this case.

Nuclear Energy

106.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response Her Majesty's Government have made to the Commission's work programme 1993–94, SEC(93)58 Final published on 26 January; and what is his policy towards the proposal to change the scope of Euratom safeguards included in the programme.

I have been asked to reply.The contents of the Commission work programme have been received and noted. There has been no official response by Her Majesty's Government but the work programme and an explanatory memorandum have been deposited in Parliament.There is no direct reference in the work programme to Euratom safeguards.

Economic, Social And Cultural Rights

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations with non-governmental organisations the United Kingdom Government have been required or recommended to make prior to making submissions to the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concerning article II of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and which non-governmental organisations have been consulted prior to submissions being made.

[holding answer 20 April 1993]: I have been asked to reply.While there is no formal obligation to consult, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has welcomed contributions by non-governmental groups in the preparation of reports under the covenant.I will write to the hon. Member about the second part of his question once necessary consultations with a number of other Government Departments is completed.

Defence

Malaysia (Arms Contract)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Minister signed the 1986 agreement with the Malaysian Government in respect of an arms contract; who signed on behalf of the Malaysian Government; what was the original estimated value of this contract; and what has been the delivered value of goods to date.

I am not aware of any such agreement signed in 1986. My right hon. and noble Friend the former Prime Minister and the Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir signed a memorandum of understanding in September 1988 under which the Malaysian Government agreed to purchase various military equipments from the United Kingdom. The terms of the MOU cannot be released from reasons of commercial confidentiality, but since the signature of the MOU the Malaysian Government and British industry have signed a number of contracts whose total value exceed £16 billion.

Civil Aircraft Notifications

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many notifications were made under the civil aircraft notification procedure in (a) 1991 and (b) 1992.

The number of notifications made under the civil aircraft notification procedure in 1991 and 1992 is as follows:

Year	Number
1991	139
1992	535

The increase between 1991 and 1992 follows the raising of the height for notification of aerial activity under this procedure from 500 to 1,000 ft.

Low Flying

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints about low flying were received in each month since June 1991 from addresses in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) England.

The numbers of inquiries or complaints relating to military low flying training which my Department received over the period June 1991 to March 1993 from addresses in Wales, Scotland and England were as follows:

Month	Wales	Scotland	England
1991
June	95	52	274
July	159	62	605
August	101	100	644
September	97	99	374
October	79	43	295
November	51	77	223
December	25	45	108
1992
January	32	52	126
February	60	108	203
March	43	104	275
April	66	66	275

Month	Wales	Scotland	England
May	145	90	661
June	123	96	668
July	117	154	610
August	97	91	372
September	67	77	327
October	99	92	391
November	35	34	315
December	20	26	178
1993
January	23	38	168
February	27	104	167
March	48	106	347

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many complaints were received about low-flying aircraft in (a) 1991 and (b) 1992 in (i) England (ii) Wales and (iii) Scotland; and what proportion of such complaints related to (1) fast jets, (2) light jet trainers, (3) heavy propeller-driven aircraft, (4) light propeller-driven aircraft and (5) helicopters.

The numbers of inquiries or complaints relating to military low flying training received in 1991 and 1992 from England, Scotland and Wales were as follows:

	Number of complaints
	1991	1992
England	3,412	4,401
Scotland	791	990
Wales	643	904

Information on the proportion of complaints by categories of aircraft could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the military low-level training sorties flown over the United Kingdon in each year since 1987 took place wholly or partly between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am.

The information requested is not available. Central records of night low flying do not separately distinguish flying between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am. The aim is to complete low flying training before 11 pm wherever possible because it is recognised that aircraft noise can be particularly intrusive at night and only the minimum necessary of such activity is authorised.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the (a) bird sanctuaries, (b) wildlife breeding sites and (c) nature reserves which are the subject of seasonal or permanent low-flying avoidance arrangements in the United Kingdom.

It remains our policy not to release detailed information on the United Kingdom military low-flying system. Fifty-seven sanctuaries, wildlife breeding sites and nature reserves are, however, the subject of seasonal or permanent low-flying avoidance arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the results of exercises held by the Royal Air Force since 1985 to measure the perceived noise on the ground, generated by overflying low-level military jet aircraft.

A copy of the report "Noise levels of military aircraft at low altitude: Exercise Luce Belle" is available in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many low-flying sorties were carried out over (a) England, (b) Wales, (c) Scotland and (d) Northern Ireland during (i) 1991 and (ii) 1992.

The information requested is not available. A typical low-level sortie covers some 300 to 500 miles and commonly covers more than one of the areas mentioned. Fixed-wing low flying training is not currently undertaken in Northern Ireland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide a monthly breakdown of the figures for low-level military training sorties over the United Kingdom since 1987.

The information requested is as follows:

Year and month	Sorties
1987
January	8,822
February	12,527
March	12,515
April	13,006
May	14,364
June	13,787
July	14,071
August	11,959
September	12,954
October	11,950
November	12,892
December	8,814
Total	147,661
1988
January	11,179
February	14,279
March	15,494
April	11,733
May	12,990
June	14,220
July	12,653
August	13,182
September	11,459
October	11,589
November	13,105
December	9,408
Total	151,291
1989
January	13,168
February	11,702
March	11,816
April	12,398
May	14,299
June	15,641
July	14,282
August	11,279
September	9,376
October	12,682
November	11,462
December	6,218
Total	144,323

Year and month	Sorties
1990
January	11,263
February	10,152
March	16,362
April	10,871
May	13,329
June	11,709
July	13,704
August	11,309
September	11,361
October	13,166
November	11,834
December	6,330
Total	141,390
1991
January	8,990
February	7,471
March	10,814
April	12,300
May	12,556
June	11,662
July	12,971
August	10,676
September	11,229
October	11,097
November	11,226
December	6,408
Total	127,400
1992
January	9,628
February	12,691
March	13,176
April	10,575
May	12,276
June	12,105
July	13,105
August	10,003
September	11,291
October	11,058
November	9,684
December	5,872
Total	131,464
1993
January	9,024
February	10,121
March	13,009

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the locations of Skyguard radars within the United Kingdom which are currently utilised to monitor low-flying activity.

The Skyguard radar system used to monitor low flying activity within the United Kingdom is based at RAF Waddington. The radars are mobile and are deployed to various locations around the country to monitor low flying.

Bosnia

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which armoured vehicles currently deployed in Bosnia are to be replaced by vehicles from Germany, and why; at what cost; how they are to be transported; and if he will make a statement.

The first battalion of the Prince of Wales Own Regiment are taking their own Warrior armoured vehicles with them and the first battalion of the Cheshire Regiment will return with their Warriors to Germany. The vehicles will be transported by ship. The cost of changing the vehicles is estimated at £300,000. The changeover is being done in order to spread the high mileage and very significant wear arising from operations in Bosnia across the fleet as a whole, thereby maintaining the best engineering management and reducing overall long-term costs to a minimum.

Tornados

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 23 April, Official Report, column 242, if he will categorise by rank and specialisation the 227 ground personnel deployed with the six Tornados and two VC-10s to enforce the no-fly zone.

The 227 ground personnel were in support of the Tornados at Gioia del Colle; in addition there were 41 ground personnel deployed in support of the VC10 tankers at Sigonella. The 268 personnel are categorised as follows:

	Officers	Senior NCOs	Airmen	Total
Operations Support	7	2	2	11
Engineering and Supply	6	55	152	213
Administrative and catering	5	7	32	44
TOTAL	18	64	186	268

Drug Tests (Armed Forces)

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make it his policy to introduce random drug tests for members of the armed forces; and if he will make a statement.

The armed forces employ a range of measures to combat drug abuse. These measures are kept under review and the introduction of compulsory drug testing is an option we are considering.

Hunting

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on whose authority licences are issued to hunt on Ministry of Defence land; and how the terms and conditions of the licences are drawn up.

Licences are issued under the authority of the Secretary of State for Defence. The licences are different for each hunt to take into account the special needs of the host establishment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the Surrey Union hunt was first issued with a licence to hunt on Ministry of Defence land.

On 7 October 1991.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether Army personnel were permitted to participate in cub hunting in 1991, 1992 and 1993.

Army personnel from mounted units, and those involved in their training, are permitted to take part in a range of equestrian training activities, including cub hunting.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether the terms and conditions of hunt licences permit any hunt to block up badger setts or permit the digging out of foxes on Ministry of Defence land;(2) if he will make it his policy to include in any licences for hunting on Ministry of Defence land a requirement that the rules set out in the rules of the Masters of Foxhounds Association be adhered to.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which hunts currently have a licence to hunt on Ministry of Defence land and in which areas; and when these licences are due for renewal.

The licences to hunt issued by my Department are due for renewal at various times. The hunts which had licences for the 1992–93 season were:

Brecon Farmers Hunt—Sennybridge Training Area
Sennybridge Farmers Hunt—Sennybridge Training Area
Irfon and Towey Hunt—Sennybridge Training Area
Glyn Celyn Beagles—Sennybridge TrainingArea
Blankney Hunt—Fulbeck and Beckingham Training Area
Surrey Union Hunt—Aldershot Military lands and Surrey Commons Training Area
West Shropshire Hunt—Nesscliffe Training Area
North Shropshire Hunt—Nesscliffe Training Area
Avon Vale Hunt—Salisbury Plain Training Area
South and West Wiltshire Hunt—Salisbury Plain Training Area
Royal Artillery Hunt—Salisbury Plain Training Area
Beaucaster Hunt—Spadeadam
Border Hunt—Otterburn Training Area
West Percy Hunt—Otterburn Training Area
Tynedale Hunt—Ouston Nr. Newcastle
Bedale Hunt—Catterick Training Area
Zetland Hunt—Feldom Training Area
Wensleydale Hunt—Catterick Training Area
West of York Hunt—Ellerton Banks
Catterick Beagles—Catterick Training Area
Newcastle Beagles—Otterburn Training Area

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all those fox hunts with which Ministry of Defence personnal are permitted to hunt in duty hours.

Personnel who are permitted to take part in fox hunting during duty hours may do so with any fox hunt in the country if they have the permission of the hunt secretary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions the Queens Royal Irish Hussars have participated in fox hunting; and with which hunts, in 1991, 1992 and 1993.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the cost of the licenses held by the HMS Heron sporting gun club were last increased; by what percentage; and for how many years the licenses have been held.

HMS Heron sporting gun club has held a licence to shoot at Merryfield airfield since 1974 and at Langport range since 1986. The licences were last reviewed in 1991 and there was no increase in the charges.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he has any plans to restrict the involvement of armed forces personnel in fox hunting during duty hours.

Personnel from mounted units, and those involved in their training, are permitted to take part in fox hunting in duty hours at the commanding officer's discretion when it is not to the detriment of any other military task. Other personnel are not normally permitted to hunt during duty hours. No further restrictions are planned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether any charge is made for Army personnel to use Army horses and equipment to hunt in off-duty hours; and on how many occasions Army personnel from non-mounted units have been permitted to hunt in duty hours in 1991, 1992 and 1993.

Army personnel from mounted units, and those involved in their training, are not permitted to use Army horses or equipment to hunt in off-duty hours. Army personnel from non-mounted units are required to pay for the hire of Army horses to hunt in off-duty hours. They would normally provide their own equipment.Figures showing the number of occasions on which Army personnel from non-mounted units have been permitted to hunt in duty hours in 1991, 1992, and 1993 could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether cub hunting is permitted on Ministry of Defence land.

Yes.

Shooting Rights

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 29 March, Official Report, column 14, whether the Bulford and Tidworth garrison shoot is permitted to sell shooting days; and if he will make a statement.

No.

Flying Training

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the percentage decrease or increase in the provision for Royal Air Force flying training activity in 1991–92 over 1990–91; and what changes in provision are being implemented this year.

The tasked flying hours for 1991–92 showed a decrease of 3 per cent. over 1990–91. Tasked flying hours for 1993–94 are yet to be finalised.

Listed Buildings

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list all the listed buildings currently owned by his Ministry; which he intends to sell; how many have been sold in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The following properties are currently for sale: Inverary pier, Faslane; Royal Marine barracks, Eastney; 28A Colliergate drill hall, York; former officers' mess, Maidstone; Forthside house, Stirling; Penisula barracks, Winchester and Bawdsey manor.In addition, we are disposing of Royal William yard and Mount Batten tower in Plymouth which will be transferred to the Plymouth urban development corporation and Paterchurch tower, Pembroke dock which will be transferred to Pembrokeshire district council.Other listed buildings have been indentified as possibilities for sale but have not yet been placed on the market. We intend, however, to review systematically all our historic buildings to determine which should be retained by the Ministry of Defence, in their current or alternative use, and which should be disposed of expeditiously to ensure their preservation by finding a suitable alternative use.Information on sales in the last five years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

British Hydrographic Service

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the work of the British Hydrographic Service.

The United Kingdom Hydrographic Service is made up of four elements: the Ministry of Defence Hydrographic Department, which is responsible for operational policy on surveying and for planning defence and civil surveys; the Royal Navy Hydrographic Surveying Squadron, which conducts United Kingdom defence surveys and part of the civil survey task; the Ministry of Defence Hydrographic Office Defence Agency, which is responsible for the production of the British Admiralty charts and publications and other professional services to the Ministry of Defence; and the Royal Navy Hydrographic School, where Royal Navy and Foreign and Commonwealth students are given courses accredited by the International Hydrographic Organisation.The detailed work of all these elements is summarised in the annual report of the Hydrographer of the Navy, which is laid before Parliament and copies of which are placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current and projected future cost of the British Hydrographic Service; and what is the current and proposed future establishment of the service.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give a breakdown by size and category of the number of vessels currently operated by the British Hydrographic Service.

The Hydrographic Survey Squadron currently consists of two ocean survey vessels of some 2,500 tonnes; three coastal survey vessels of between 1,400 and 1,100 tonnes; and one inshore survey craft of some 20 tonnes. In addition, the Hydrographic Survey Squadron operates two chartered vessels to undertake civil hydrographic surveys.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the revenue generated in each of the last 10 years by sales of charts and related information by the British hydrographic service (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) to overseas customers.

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Hydrographic Office Defence Agency and I have asked him to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from J. A. L. Myres to Mr. Nicholas Winterton, dated 5 Ma) 1993:

1. You recently asked the Secretary of State for Defence a Parliamentary Question concerning the revenue generated in each of the last 10 years by sales of charts and related information by the British Hydrographic Service (a) in the United Kingdom and (b) to overseas customers.

2. The Minister has asked me, as Chief Executive of the Hydrographic Office, to reply directly to you. The information you require can be found in the attached Annex. In amplification I should like to make two observations. Firstly, the term "charts and related information" has been defined as the sale of charts and hydrographic publications. Secondly, the revenue figures are, for reasons of comparison, expressed on a constant price basis, namely at 1992–93 prices.

3. I should also point out that charts and hydrographic publications are sold through a worldwide network of Admiralty Chart Agents. Whilst we have, on the basis of our invoice returns, been able to differentiate between sales to UK and overseas chart agents, it does not follow that an overseas chart agent will sell only to a user based overseas or vice versa.

I hope this is helpful.

Annex
£ million
Financial Year	United Kingdom (¹at 1992–93 prices)	Overseas (¹at 1992–93 prices)
1982–83	7·08	9·38
1983–84	6·91	8·44
1984–85	7·08	8·66
1985–86	5·98	7·91
1986–87	6·22	7·91
1987–88	6·13	8·12
1988–89	6·28	8·79
1989–90	6·77	9·45
1990–91	7·04	10·65
1991–92	8·60	11·11
1992–93	7·58	10·98
¹ Calculated using HM Treasury GDP deflator index dated February 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to withdraw vessels operated by the British hydrographic service and for the replacement of such vessels; and if he will make a statement.

The current ships of the Hydrographic survey squadron will be replaced, as this becomes necessary, with chartered vessels with naval crews or parties embarked as appropriate.

Reserve Forces

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to use members of the reserve forces in support of current operations.

I reported to the House by notice last October the call-out of a small number of willing officers of the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve to support current operations, and in November the Minister of State for the Armed Forces reported the call-out of a number of Territorial Army and Royal Naval personnel.A need for futher limited support from the reserve forces has now arisen. The requirement is for a small number of officers to serve in Italy in intelligence and public relations capacities in support of the operations to enforce the no-fly zone over Bosnia. Three officers will be deployed at any one time and additional support may be needed in the United Kingdom. They will all be volunteers. They are being called out under section 11(1) of the Reserve Forces Act 1980.

Transport

Fords

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fords there are in England where public roads cross watercourses; how many fatal or serious accidents have occurred in each of the last 10 years as a result of vehicles failing to negotiate water on fords on public roads; if he will list fords which have been closed to traffic following such accidents; and what is his Department's policy towards fords and the provision of warning to motorists when water conditions may be dangerous.

No information is available centrally about the number of fords in England, accidents at or near fords, or fords which have been closed to traffic following accidents. Fords are normally on minor roads which are the responsibility of the local authority. The signs prescribed in Traffic Signs Regulations for use as necessary include triangular signs to give advance warning of the ford and the need to try brakes after crossing, gauges to show the depth of water and "Unsuitable for motors" plates for use with the warning signs where the water is normally too deep. Warning signs can be used where floods occur at fairly regular intervals but should be covered or removed unless the hazard is present.

Sonic Booms

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many sonic booms have been reported over land areas of the United Kingdom in each year since 1987; and how many of these were caused by (a) military aircraft and (b) civil aircraft.

We have received no reports of primary sonic booms over the UK from the operation of civil aircraft since 1987.I have asked my noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence to write to the hon. Member about military aircraft.

Exeter-Barnstaple Rail Line

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the future funding of the Exeter to Barnstaple railway line.

Services which meet an essential social need will continue to receive a subsidy where necessary. This applies whether the operator is a franchisee or BR, which will continue to operate services until they are franchised.

Plutonium Transport

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the letter dated 15 March by the Minister for Aviation and Shipping to Lord Jenkins of Putney on comparative risks of plutonium transport.

Yes, I have done so.

General Lighthouse Fund

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what change will be made in the funding of the general lighthouse fund following the transfer of responsibility for this service from Her Majesty's Customs.

The General Lighthouse Authorities, with the agreement of the Department of Transport, have

Grants and subsidies to the bus industry: Great Britain
£ million¹
Year	Revenue support	Fuel duty rebate	Rural bus grant	New bus grant	Infra-structure grant	Total
1972–73	—	21	1	20	1	—
1973–74	—	20	1	21	1	—
1974–75	—	36	3	23	2	—
1975–76	—	39	4	37	2	—
1976–77	—	47	—	41	2	—
1977–78	196	57	—	49	1	303
1978–79	220	59	—	57	1	337
1979–80	264	67	—	66	—	397
1980–81	373	80	—	74	—	527
1981–82	443	89	—	58	—	590
1982–83	561	103	—	30	—	694
1983–84	572	101	—	16	—	689
1984–85	608	127	—	1	—	736
1985–86	495	131	—	—	—	626
1986–87	419	129	17	—	—	565
1987–88	337	135	17	—	—	489
1988–89	337	158	13	—	—	508
1989–90	296	150	4	—	—	450
1990–91¹	323	169	—	—	—	492
1991–92²	377	189	—	—	—	566
¹ Not adjusted for inflation
² Provisional

Sources: Bus and Coach Statistics 1991–92, HMSO

Transport Statistics Great Britain, HMSO

Road Crashes

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on progress in the reduction of deaths and serious injuries from road crashes in the north west region.

The number of people killed and seriously injured on north west roads in 1991 was 5,580. This is 21 per cent. lower than the annual average 1981–85 base figure, against which we are measuring our target of reducing the number of road casualties by one-third by the year 2000.

Roadworks

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport to what extent the application of higher safety standards to protect workers engaged in highway repairs has increased the number and length of lane closures at roadworks (a) generally, and (b) between junction 28 and 29 on the M 1.

entered into a contract with the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers to collect the majority of light dues. The contract came into operation of 1 April 1993 and did not involve any changes to the operation of the General Lighthouse Fund.

Bus Subsidies

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the total amount of subsidy to bus operations in each of the past 20 years.

The information requested is shown in the table. Revenue support figures for the years prior to 1977–78 are not shown as they could be produced only at disproportionate cost.

The current standards for safety zones have been in force for many years, although compliance may have improved following publication of the revised chapter 8 of the Department's traffic signs manual in May 1991. The number and length of lane closures have depended on the maintenance requirements at any particular time, and the volume of traffic which had to be accommodated in the open lanes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps his Department take where motorway repairs and improvements are done under lane rental contracts to prevent excessive delays caused by long sections of road being affected at any one time.

Lane rental provides a particular incentive for contractors to minimise the duration of lane closures, but all our motorway repairs and improvements are carefully planned and co-ordinated to minimise delays to road users, regardless of the form of contract used. We normally require that roadworks on motorways be spaced at least 10 km apart, and our contractors are instructed that no more than 4 km of carriageway should be coned off on any scheme at any time. Traffic management layouts are individually designed, and techniques continuously refined, to maximise the capacity of the lanes available and smooth the flow of traffic through the works.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement concerning the length of delays to traffic at the roadworks between junctions 28 and 29 on the M 1 motorway currently taking place; and what steps can be taken to reduce them.

Major maintenance, including strengthening and resurfacing, is necessary to the M 1 between junctions 28 and 29 in Derbyshire. Lane restrictions are an essential safety measure to protect the workforce and road users. This section of the M 1 carries 90,000 vehicles a day. With that level of traffic, Iane restrictions will unfortunately cause a degree of disruption, particularly at peak times. To mitigate the effect on traffic, the work is being carried out under a lane rental contract which allows the contractor to work throughout the day and night, seven days a week, to encourage early completion. Through the national and local media road users have been kept advised of the work, so that they can consider making alternative arrangements if that is possible. I am, of course, sorry for the inconvenience that has been caused to people using this part of the MI, but the work is programmed for completion on 20 May.

Environmental Impact

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he plans to introduce on the environmental impact of transport in the north west region.

All major transport infrastructure proposals, in the north-west and elsewhere, are subject to full environmental impact assessment.The March Budget announced that the value of fuel duty in real terms is to be increased as part of a strategy to increase fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions. My Department is working closely with our European partners to tighten standards for noise and gaseous emissions from vehicles.

Traffic, Greater Manchester

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will visit the Greater Manchester area to assess the effect of traffic on town centres.

I shall be happy to visit Greater Manchester when the opportunity arises.We have several major schemes in our trunk road programme which are designed to take traffic away from town centres in Greater Manchester. We are also supporting local authority road schemes and public transport projects such as Metrolink to help traffic conditions in the centres.

Bus Travelcards

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in how many urban areas all bus travelcard systems have been withdrawn or disagreed by operators since 1985.

This information is not collected centrally. However, in all the major metropolitan areas there are at present travelcard schemes involving all the major bus operators.

Lgv And Psv Drivers

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now make it his policy to initiate a registration scheme for qualified and experienced LGV and PSV instructors at an early date; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 17 November 1992, Official Report, column 161.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received about the standards of tuition given by unqualified LGV and PSV instructors and the numbers of liquidations of firms of unqualified instructors; and if he will make a statement.

I have received no recent representations on these particular topics. My Department has no information about the number of liquidations of large goods vehicle and passenger carrying vehicle instruction firms.

Rail Privatisation

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) pursuant to his statement on 2 February, Official Report, column 243, that under the proposed rail franchising arrangement there should be a cap for those services that are a monopoly, at what level above the existing fares the cap will be set; and what the criteria will be for bringing the cap into effect;(2) to what extent his policy on the guidance he will be issuing to the rail franchising authority as to the circumstances in which, and the extent to which, fares might be controlled has been developed beyond what is said in paragraphs 14 and 15 of the Railways Bill Committee paper No. 3 of February; and if he will make a statement.

Further work remains to be done in developing the draft guidance that I provided to the Standing Committee in relation to fares regulation and other matters.

Emergency Telephone (A2)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a further statement on his plans to instal emergency telephones on the A2 as it passes through the Dartford constituency.

Emergency telephones are to be installed on the A2 between Bexley and Three Crutches (M2). Consultants were appointed in January this year and it is hoped that installation work will start in spring next year.

Social Security

Benefits Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what targets for performance set by his Department for the Benefits Agency in respect of clearance time and accuracy are reduced for 1993–94 relative to the original targets for 1992–93; what are the estimated final figures for 1992–93; and if he will make a statement.

There are four targets which have been reduced for 1993–94.

	1992–93	1993–94
	per cent.	per cent.
DLA clearance time (in 55 days)	95	85
DWA clearance time (in 5 days)	95	65
IS accuracy	94	92
Family credit accuracy	94	92

The final performance figures for 1992–93 will be published in the Benefits Agency annual report in July 1993. The 1993–94 targets will be reviewed, as is customary, by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in the light of those figures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total cost to the Exchequer to date of weekend working by staff of the Benefits Agency during the past 18 months at time-and-a-half and double-time, plus travelling expenses, for the purpose of making-up the backlog of disability living allowance cases.

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

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 4 May 1993:

As Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency, it is my responsibility to answer questions about relevant operational matters. I am therefore replying to the points raised in your recent Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Social Security asking what is the total cost to the Exchequer to date of weekend working by staff of the Benefits Agency during the past 18 months at time-and-a-half and double-time, plus travelling expenses, for the purpose of making-up the backlog of Disability Living Allowance cases.

Firstly, it may be helpful for me to explain that Disability Living Allowance (DLA) was introduced on 3 February 1992 and due to this fact any overtime worked prior to this date was mainly in respect of project work and not directly related to processing claims. The information I have therefore supplied, is relevant to the period when DLA was introduced.

It is not possible to establish how much overtime has been paid in respect of weekend working as the information is not recorded separately from normal after hours working. However, the total amount of overtime, including travelling time, in the period February 1992 to February 1993 was £6,822,583. This figure also includes work carried out in the Disability Benefit Centres which is attributable to other work areas and cannot be identified separately, for example Attendance Allowance.

Turning now to the question of travelling expenses this data is not available as it is not recorded separately from the normal travelling expenses incurred during everyday duties.

I hope you find this reply helpful. A copy will appear in the Official Report. A copy will also be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is the total cost to the Exchequer to date of providing staff of the Benefits Agency with corporate clothing; what this corporate clothing consists of; and how many sets of such clothing have been provided to date.

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

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. Gerald Kaufman, dated 4 May 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 what is the total cost to the Exchequer to date of providing staff of the Benefits Agency with corporate clothing: what this corporate clothing consists of; and how many sets of such clothing have been provided to date.

Corporate clothing, as part of the customer service initiative, enables Benefits Agency staff to present a better and more professional image to their customers. This clothing is worn, voluntarily, by staff who deal regularly with the public such as receptionists, Social Fund officers and those members of staff running exhibitions and talks for outside bodies.

The corporate dress contract was awarded on 11 December 1991. The national cost of corporate clothing, for the financial years 1991–92 and 1992–93, is in the region of £2·1 million. I should explain that funding for this clothing comes from office running costs and not out of the budgets allocated to benefits.

The items available as corporate clothing include jackets, shirts, blouses, cardigans, jumpers, trousers, ties, maternity dresses, and belts. The clothing does not come in sets, but the average order would be in the range of 10 items. Over 86,000 individual items have been ordered to date.

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

Pension Age

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will update table 6, at page 49 of "Options for Equality in State Pension Age" to reflect current retirement pension rates.

The information is in the table. As in table 6 of "Options for Equality in State Pension Age", the amounts are rounded to the nearest £1.

Basic pension available at different ages (£)
Age	Age 63 'pivot'	Age 65 'pivot'
60	45	39
61	48	41
62	52	45
63	56	48
64	61	52
65	66	56
66	71	61
67	77	66
68	84	72
69	92	79
70	102	87

Source: GAD, assumes prices uprating and single person's pension rates.

Water Prices

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy to take into account disparities between water prices in different regions of the United Kingdom when structuring the benefits system.

Social security in the United Kingdom is composed largely of national benefits. We have no plans to change this arrangement.

Pensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his estimate of the cost that would be involved in extending inflation-proofed pensions to those over 80 years of age who do not qualify for annual uprating, assuming the same age profile for such British state retirement pensioners as for those who do.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what estimates he has made of the numbers of British state retirement pensioners with ancestral links with new Commonwealth countries who would wish to spend their retirement in a new Commonwealth country if their entitlement to an inflation-proofed state retirement pensions were to be maintained.

The nationality or origin of a contributor to the British national insurance scheme is not recorded and we do not. therefore, have the information needed to make such an estimate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list those countries where British pensioners receive inflation-proofed state retirement pensions together with the dates when, in each case reciprocal agreements were entered into.

The information is in the table.

Table of overseas countries where annual pension increases are paid and the dates on which reciprocal social security agreements came into force
Country	Date
Austria	1 October 1972
Barbados	1 April 1992
Belgium	1 June 1958
Bermuda	1 November 1969
Cyprus	18 May 1957
Denmark¹	8 February 1960
Finland	1 February 1984
France	5 July 1948
Germany	1 August 1961
Gibraltar	26 March 1974
Guernsey	4 April 1966
Iceland	1 August1985
Irish Republic	4 April 1966
Israel	1 November1957
Italy	1 May 1953
Jamaica	1 October 1972
Jersey	4 April 1966
Luxembourg	1 April 1955
Malta	29 October 1956
Mauritius	1 November 1981
Netherlands	1 June 1955
Norway	1 April 1991
Philippines	1 December 1989
Portugal	1 October 1979
Spain	1 April 1975
Sweden	1 May 1988
Switzerland	1 June 1954
Turkey	1 June 1961
United States of America	25 September 1969
Yugoslavia (including the newly independent former republics)	1 September 1958

Annual pension increases arc also payable in Greece under the European Community's Social Security regulations.

¹ 'The reciprocal agreement between the United Kingdom and Denmark does not provide for annual pension increases to be paid to pensioners in Denmark but such increases are payable under the European Community's Social Security regulations.

Agencies (Letters)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 30 March, Official Report, column 172, for what purpose copies of letters from chief executives of agencies within his responsibility are sent to Ministers before being sent to the hon. Members to whom they are addressed; and how many such letters have been amended as a result of this practice.

Replying to parliamentary questions concerning day-to-day operational matters for which they are responsible has been delegated to the chief executive of this Department's Agencies in line with the Government's response to the Eighth Report of the Treasury and Civil Service Committee (October 1990, Cm 1263). The arrangements are kept under review. In this Department Ministers see a draft of chief executives' replies to remain informed of the actions and replies of the agencies concerned. It is not the practice of Ministers to amend such drafts.

Free Envelopes

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what is his Department's policy regarding the supply of free envelopes to facilitate claims for benefits; and if he will make a statement.

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

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. David Hanson, dated 5 May 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 what is his Department's policy regarding the supply of free envelopes to facilitate claims for benefits.

In line with the Benefits Agency's core value of Customer Service it is normal practice for officers to provide pre-paid envelopes when requesting information from a customer.

I am aware that there have been isolated instances where the facility of free envelopes has been withdrawn at a local level, but this has only been where it was felt that the money could be used more constructively in providing a better standard of service to our customers. Such decisions are only made where the District Manager is satisfied that the service to the customer will not suffer, and the decision is kept under constant review. I am currently reviewing these exceptions with a view to deciding whether they are justified. I will make a decision and write to you further at that time.

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

Residential And Community Care

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will ensure that, where there is no opposition from clients, the Benefits Agency provides assessment information to local authority social services departments, for the purposes of establishing residential care charges;(2) what guidance he has issued to ensure co-operation between Benefits Agency staff and social services departments for the introduction of community care.

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

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mr. David Hinchliffe, dated 4 May 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 Questions to the Secretary of State for Social Security, asking (i) if he will ensure that, where there is no opposition from clients, the Benefits Agency provides assessment information to local authority social services departments, for the purposes of establishing residential care charges and (ii) what guidance has been issued to ensure co-operation between Benefits Agency staff and social services departments, for the introduction of community care.

The Benefits Agency has made a number of arrangements to ensure adequate liaison with social services departments. The Departments of Health and of Social Security, the Benefits Agency and the Local Authority Associations (who represent all local authorities), have all been fully involved in the discussions on the introduction of community care. A joint statement of intent was issued in March 1993 to all Benefits Agency offices and Social Services departments (Social Work departments in Scotland). This detailed a number of good liaison practises and stressed the importance of effective communication.

Additionally, guidance has been issued nationally instructing staff in Benefits Agency offices to co-operate with all reasonable requests for information which social services departments may make, provided that the customers' consent has been obtained. Each Benefits Agency District has also appointed a member of staff with responsibility for liaising with their local Social Services or Social Work department.

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

Scotland

Borders Structure Plan

16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to be able to make a statement following his consultations on the draft borders structure plan.

My right hon. Friend will announce his conclusions on the borders structure plan as soon as he has fully considered all the objections to his draft modifications.

Public Expenditure

17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the level of public expenditure per head in Scotland in the current year.

Latest available figures for public expenditure per head in Scotland relate to 1991–92. In that year the level of identifiable general government expenditure per head in Scotland was £3,506. Identifiable general government expenditure comprises expenditure identified as being of direct benefit to Scottish inhabitants. Other expenditure, principally on defence, is of equal benefit to all the inhabitants of the United Kingdom. That amounted to £716 per head across the United Kingdom in 1991–92.

Water Investment

18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much additional borrowing is planned to be required for water investment over the next three years under existing financing arrangements.

Control of local authority capital investment is exercised over expenditure rather than borrowing. Expenditure provision for water and sewerage is £237 million in 1993–94, £243 million in 1994–95, and £248 million in 1995–96, a total of £728 million.

Local Enterprise Companies

19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairs of local enterprise companies to discuss their business plans.

The contractual relationship to which business plans are relevant is between local enterprise companies and Scottish Enterprise or Highlands and Islands Enterprise. Consequently, although my right hon. Friend and I meet chairmen of local enterprise companies from time to time to discuss a range of economic development and training issues, our discussions are not specifically related to their business plans.

Farmed Salmon

20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has for regulating the production of farmed salmon in Scotland.

I have welcomed the salmon farming industry's proposals to establish producer organisations. These will help create a more stable and better informed market. However, I do not accept the industry's case for giving such organisations compulsory powers to determine stock levels and minimum prices both for members and non-members.

Reservoirs (Public Access)

21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on public access to reservoirs for recreational purposes.

Public access to reservoirs for recreational purposes is a matter for regional and islands councils as water authorities. The Scottish Office Environment Department will shortly be publishing a voluntary code of practice on conservation, access and recreation to guide the work of water authorities and river purification boards, prepared with their full co-operation.

Hospital Treatments

22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) in-patients and (b) out-patients were treated in national health service hospitals in Scotland in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what the figures were in 1979.

A total of 933,624 patients were treated as in-patients in national health service hospitals in Scotland in the year ending 30 September 1992 compared with 735,583 in 1979—a 27 per cent. increase. Out-patients rose to 6,013,929 in 1992 from 5,202,863 in 1979. The most significant increase occurred in the numbers of patients treated as day cases—up to 229,222 in 1992 a 180 per cent. increase on the 81,577 recorded in 1979.

Hospitals (Glasgow)

23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has had with Greater Glasgow health board regarding the future of Glasgow hospitals, particularly Stobhill hospital.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has had no recent discussions with Greater Glasgow health board regarding their comprehensive review of acute and maternity services. He looks forward to receiving the board's detailed proposals in due course.

Dutch Elm Disease

24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what action he is taking to prevent the spread of Dutch elm disease.

Dutch elm disease has already spread throughout Britain, apart from some parts of north Scotland. Legislation has been in place for many years giving local authorities powers to order the felling of diseased trees in certain areas where this would help to contain the disease. The Forestry Commission is continuing to investigate possible control methods, including a virus that attacks the fungus which causes the disease. It is also working on the development of disease resistant strains of English elm.

Water Privatisation

25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the corresponding provisions in Northern Ireland when considering whether to privatise Scottish Water.

My right hon. Friend and I maintain contact as appropriate with our colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many representations he has had from Conservative councillors on water privatisation.

My right hon. Friend has received 14 representations from Conservative councillors on the future structure of water and sewerage services in Scotland since 17 November last year.

Structural Funds

26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent discussions he has held with EC counterparts on structural funds' allocation (a) in general and (b) on objective 5(b) status for areas within Grampian regional council boundaries.

Draft regulations have been published by the Commission and are under discussion in the structural actions working group of the Council of Ministers. Until the negotiations on criteria for the selection of objective 5(b) areas are further advanced it would be premature to discuss possible financial allocations to areas bidding for inclusion.

Crash Barriers

28.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many miles of motorway and dual carriageway in Scotland do not have crash barriers installed.

There are 19 miles of motorway and 106 miles of trunk road dual carriageway in Scotland without central reserve safety fencing. This represents approximately 10 per cent. of motorways and 33 per cent. of trunk road dual carriageways. A rolling programme is underway to install central reserve safety fencing on these remaining sections of the network by the end of the 1994–95 financial year.Records are not kept centrally for non-trunk road dual carriageways, for which regional councils are responsible.

Rail Transport (Fife)

29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement about the future of rail transport in Fife.

Responsibility for the railways throughout Great Britain is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Transport. The provision of rail services in Fife is at present a matter for British Rail. Under the Government's proposals for the railways we believe that the direct involvement of the private sector will result in a better, more responsive service for the travelling public throughout Scotland including Fife.

Local Government Reform

27.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of the Government's proposed time scale for introducing local government reform.

We intend to announce our decisions on the future structure of local government in Scotland in a White Paper before the summer recess. Thereafter, subject to the necessary legislation being put in place, elections to shadow authorities will take place in spring 1995, with new authorities assuming full control on 1 April 1996.

30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will now make a further statement on the reform of Scottish local government.

More than 3,300 responses to the consultation exercise on local government reform were received from a wide range of organisations and individuals. These are currently being analysed and we intend to announce our decisions on the future structure of local government in Scotland in a White Paper before the summer recess.

38.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his latest estimate of the cost of local government reorganisation.

A move to a single-tier structure will give rise to transitional costs which should be quickly recovered by annual savings. An indication of the likely financial consequences of reform will be included in a White Paper on our restructuring proposals which we intend to publish before the summer recess.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to hold discussions regarding the cost of the reform of the Scottish local government system prior to the publication of the White Paper on this subject.

My right hon. Friend will be consulting colleagues in the usual way before publishing his proposals for the reform of local government in Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, pursuant to his oral answer of 31 March, Official Report, column 349, on the cost of local Government reform, if he will hold discussions on the costs of reform with existing local authorities.

My officials have already held useful discussions on the costs of reform with local authority representatives on the working party on local government finance. I have no plans at present to hold further discussions on the issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list the names and qualifications of financial and management consultancies he intends to use to help the Scottish Office formulate the financial data required to produce a White Paper on Scottish local government reform;(2) what plans he has to invite Touche Ross to tender for further work with the Scottish Office in connection with the reform of the local Government system in Scotland.

The Scottish Office has no plans at present to commission further work from any consultants in connection with local government reform.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make it his policy, before publication of the White Paper on the reform of local Government in Scotland, to have discussions with representatives of industry and commerce in Scotland.

My colleagues and I meet regularly with representatives of industry and commerce in Scotland to discuss a range of current issues, including local government reform. Our consultation paper on local government reform generated about 220 responses from commercial and industrial organisations and these will be taken fully into account before decisions are reached on the new structure.

Museums

31.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on policy concerning museums.

Policy on museums in Scotland is developed and reviewed in consultation with interested organisations. In particular with the Museums and Galleries Commission, the Scottish Museums Council, and representatives of local authorities.

Ministry Of Defence Spending

32.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of the success of Scottish Enterprise in ensuring that Ministry of Defence spending is attracted to Scotland, Glasgow and Govan.

Scottish Enterprise's success in helping Scottish companies to respond to opportunities to secure contracts and in attracting new employment to Scotland is assessed in the round rather than in relation to any specific organisation. Scottish Enterprise's specific initiative to deal with the effects on the Scottish economy and labour market of changes in the defence sector also goes wider than seeking to maximise Ministry of Defence spending in Scotland; and assessment of that initiative is framed in appropriately broad terms to reflect its objectives.

Unemployment

33.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current level of unemployment in Scotland; and if he will make a statement.

In March 1993, the level of unemployment in Scotland, seasonally adjusted, was 244,400 or 9·6 per cent. of the work force.It is very encouraging that unemployment in Scotland has fallen for two successive months.

Hospital Building

34.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much capital expenditure has been allocated for the current year and 1994 for new hospital building projects in Scotland.

A total of £180·484 million was allocated for capital expenditure to health boards, trusts and the state hospital for 1993–94. This figure excludes moneys for information technology but includes amounts allocated for equipment and for the improvement of the existing estate. The allocations for financial year 1994–95 will only be decided at the end of the calendar year.

Student Grants

35.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the Scottish Education Department will reconsider funding for courses affected by the change of status from college to university of certain institutions in Scotland in cases where students have been deprived of grants.

In Scotland, responsiblity for the provision of student support is determined by the nature, level, and validation of the course concerned; not by the status of the institution offering it.My right hon. Friend has no plans to change that arrangement.

Sunday Trading

36.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what conclusions he has drawn from experience of the practice of Sunday trading in Scotland.

Over the years Sunday trading practices in Scotland have evolved in line with the wishes of the local communities. Sunday trading in Scotland occurs mainly in urban areas. It fulfils a need for some members of the public without seriously disadvantaging others. The present arrangements appear to work well and to the satisfaction of the great majority of the Scottish public.

New Towns

37.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met the chairmen of the Scottish new towns to discuss the future of the new towns; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend and I met the chairmen and deputy chairmen of all the new town development corporations on 5 October 1992. I again met the chairmen collectively on 21 December 1992 and will meet the chairmen and board members of individual corporations during the summer months.

West Coast Main Line

39.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions he has had with the chairman of British Rail concerning new investment on the west coast main line; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. Friend meets the chairman of British Rail from time to time. Such contacts cover a wide range of topics relating to rail services in Scotland.

Local Enterprise Companies

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the 1993–94 budget for each local enterprise company in Scotland.

The allocation of resources to the local enterprise companies is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise. I have asked the chairmen of these bodies to write to the hon. Member.

Lothian And Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much money was given to Lothian and Edinburgh Enterprise Ltd. for training in (a) 1992–93 and (b) 1993–94.

The allocation of resources to the local enterprise companies is an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise. I have asked the chairman of Scottish Enterprise to write to the hon. Member.

Opencast Coal

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will issue new interim guidance on opencast coal production, following the Bridgecastle case, to update circulars 4/1984 and 23/1987;(2) at what stage he proposes to issue interim guidance on opencast coal production to supersede circulars 4/1984 and 23/1987.

[holding answer 4 May 1993]: We do not propose to issue specific interim guidance on opencast coal production. We do, however, propose to issue a new National Planning Policy Guideline "Land for Mineral Working" later this year. This will embrace opencast coal mining, take account of the Coal Review White Paper, and supersede circulars 4/1984 and 23/1987.

Volume 224: debated on Wednesday 5 May 1993

Written Answers To Questions

Home Department

Prison Service

Prison Transport

Prison Regime (Code Of Standards)

Prison Education Service

Fire Service, Wales

Neighbourhood Watch

Victim Support

Police Forces

Racial Attacks

Public Order Act

Dangerous Dogs

Identity Cards

Child Abuse

Corporal Punishment

Boards Of Visitors

Directorate Of Telecommunications

Racism And Homophobia

Life Imprisonment

Duchy Of Lancaster

Market Testing

Health

Sellafield (Emissions)

Tuberculosis

Transitional Grants

Personal Social Services

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Patients Charter

Prescription Charges

Dentistry

Community Care

Ambulances

Nurses

Hepatitis B

"The Health Of The Nation"

Human Fertilisation And Embryology Act

Tranquilliser Addiction

Nhs Administration

Hospital Waiting Lists

Prime Minister

Treaties

St Bartholomew's Hospital

Orders In Council

Publlic Servants

National Heritage

Ecclesiastical Buildings

Bskyb

Bernard Shaw Estate

Deaf And Blind Sports

House Of Commons

Security

Silverware

Committee Stages

Education

Ministerial Visits To Schools

Postgraduate Students

Advertisements

Tests

Special Needs

Parents' Guide

University Students' Grants

Dance Students

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Kent Marshes

Meat Regulations

Pesticides

Table Salt

Radioactive Fallout

Dairy Herds (Bacteria)

Iacs Forms

Dairy Inspectors

Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy

Captive Birds

Animal Breeding Techniques

Meat Products

Trade And Industry

Radar Speed Cameras