Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Monday 17 May 1993

Transport

Buses

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he has on the average age of buses in each of the last seven years.

The average age of Hackney buses and coaches with nine or more seats in Great Britain licensed at the end of each of the last seven years is given in the table.

Average age.
Year	Years
1986	7·8
1987	8·0
1988	8·2
1989	8·3
1990	8·4
1991	8·8
1992	9·2

Source: DVLA.

Aircraft Security

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to ensure that the Civil Aviation Authority enforces, and that British registered airlines comply with, the security regulations in regard to the quantity of baggage permitted to be brought into aircraft cabins.

The CAA recently issued a notice reminding aircraft and aerodrome operators of the measures available to them for restricting the excessive carriage of cabin baggage and of their duty to comply with them in the interest of passenger safety. The authority will continue to monitor the situation to ensure that the regulations are adhered to.

Bus Services, London

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many bus routes in London have been put out to tender; what savings have resulted; and how many of these tenders were won by London Buses.

London Transport operates some 650 bus routes in London. Of these, 268 have been competitively tendered, with London Buses winning 132. LT estimates that tendering has produced average costs savings, net of administration costs, of 15 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who will be responsible for responding to requests from residents' groups on residential estates in London to discuss the introduction of a bus service.

London Transport has a general duty under the London Regional Transport Act 1984 to provide or secure the provision of public passenger services for Greater London. It has no statutory obligation to respond to approaches from residents' groups, but such organisations are free to approach LT direct to discuss future bus provision.

Privilege Rail Tickets

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the number of privilege rail tickets granted under reciprocal arrangements to employees of overseas railway administrations for travel within Great Britain in 1991–92.

British Rail advises that it issued 57,023 coupons for such travel on its services in the calendar year 1991. It is not known how many of these were actually used.

Bus Operators

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the publicly or municipally-owned bus operators that are excluded from submitting tenders for the provision of services in Great Britain.

All publicly or municipally owned bus operators are free to submit tenders to provide bus services.

Robin Hood Line

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if the Government will be making additional funding available for the Robin Hood line between Nottingham and Mansfield.

The Government will be making available to Nottinghamshire county council additional resources of £6·5 million for stage 2 of the Robin Hood line. These resources are in addition to the £367,000 which the Government have already made available towards the costs of stage 1 of the line. The additional resources should make it possible to extend the Robin Hood line from Nottingham at least as far as Mansfield.

Taxis

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consultations he has had with the National Association of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Enforcement Officers regarding two-tier taxi licensing systems, and if he will make a statement.

My officials met the National Association of Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Enforcement Officers on 5 May to discuss the licensing of taxis and private hire vehicles, principally outside London. NAPTHELO gave the Department copies of its draft proposals for the future of the taxi and private hire vehicle licensing system which we will be studying with interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he has taken on the recommendations contained in paragraph 23 of the report of the working party on the safety of users of taxis and minica bs in London.

I am aware of the situation outside London where there is a two-tier system for licensing taxis and private hire vehicles. I will take experience of this into account in making a decision on any changes to the licensing regime for the capital.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information requested is as follows:

Month	Number of Parliamentary questions answered	Number of disproportionate cost answers	Percentage
November 1991	392	2	0·51
December 1991	173	0	—
January 1992	223	0	—
February 1992	371	1	0·26
March 1992	172	0	—
April 1992	General Election	—	—
May 1992	170	0	—
June 1992	359	2	0·55
July 1992	259	1	0·38
August 1992	Recess	0	—
September 1992	Recess	0	—
October 1992	205	1	0·48
November 1992	334	1	0·29
December 1992	181	1	0·55
January 1993	196	2	1·02
February 1993	418	0	—
March 1993	392	0	—
April 1993	213	1	0·48
Total	4,058	12	0·29

Third Thames Crossing

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what cost-benefit analysis was used in selecting his Department's preferred option of a bridge, rather than a tunnel, for the A102 Blackwall third crossing; what emphasis this cost-benefit analysis gave to the impact of a bridge on the local community, business and the environment; if his Department will publish the cost-benefit analysis in full in time for the consultation phase; and if he will make a statement.

The Department has a standard cost benefit analysis for assessment of the effects of new road schemes in urban conditions—URECA—which addresses the likely change in traffic conditions and therefore the effect on the local community. The scheme's technical appraisal, which contains a summary of this analysis, is available and I will send the hon. Gentleman a copy if he wishes.A formal environmental assessment is not prepared in the early stages of a scheme. Full details of the preferred bridge option for a new crossing at Blackwall, including landscaping proposals, air quality and noise pollution assessments, were included in public exhibitions held recently as part of the current public consultation exercise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he had with local government, community and business organisations prior to publication of his Department's consultation document on the A102 Blackwall third crossing; and how many of the organisations that he met were in favour of the Department's preferred bridge option.

Earlier this year the Department consulted on an informal basis the London boroughs of Greenwich and of Tower Hamlets and the London Docklands development corporation. It also had similar informal consultations with British Gas because of its wide-ranging Port Greenwich development proposals on its land at Blackwall peninsula and with industrialists on the north bank. The recent, widely advertised public consultation exercise is the opportunity for all interested parties to comment. Not surprisingly, the bridge option has received a mixed reaction.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a detailed environmental assessment, including analysis of noise pollution, of the planned bridge at Blackwall.

A formal environmental assessment is not prepared in the early stages of a scheme. Full details of the preferred bridge option for a new crossing at Blackwall, including landscaping proposals, air quality and noise pollution assessments, were included in public exhibitions held recently as part of the current public consultation exercise.

Oxleas Wood

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has recently received any communication from the European Commission with regard to Oxleas wood in Woolwich; and if he will make a statement.

I have recently received the European Commission's reasoned opinion on the east London river crossing. We will study it carefully but remain confident that we will be able to persuade the Commission of the merits of our case.

M6

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much was paid for the land at Red Star which was bought for widening the M6 at Fulwood in Preston.

The Department does not disclose information about individual compensation claims.

Attorney-General

Crown Prosecution Service

To ask the Attorney-General what proportion of cases were discontinued by the crown prosecution service on the grounds of (a) evidential insufficiency or (b) it being not in the public interest to continue for each year since the instigation of the crown prosecution service.

Reasons for discontinuance are not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

The total numbers of defendant cases discontinued in each year were as follows:

Year	Number
1987–88	108,900
1988–89	120,714
1989–90	140,313
1990–91	151,236
1991–92	174,411
1992–93	193,774

The interim findings of Home Office research into the reasons for the termination of cases included 54 per cent. terminated on evidential grounds and 32 per cent. terminated in the public interest.

Table 1
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1987–88
	Received¹	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	92,761	172,251	1,825	111,506	7,208	16,162	35,550
London North	41,369	75,557	1,425	46,379	4,895	8,709	14,149
London South	35,900	67,720	1,670	50,677	5,749	6,236	3,388
Avon/Somerset	18,373	35,649	1,234	28,099	2,138	3,417	761
Herts/Bedfordshire	16,029	28,091	1,465	21,441	1,942	2,239	1,004
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	14,791	28,914	916	23,182	1,783	2,396	637
Cheshire	11,849	24,956	1,423	19,248	1,754	1,765	736
Cleveland/North Yorkshire	18,808	37,889	3,554	27,296	2,390	3,024	1,625
Cumbria/Lancashire	31,247	64,617	12,125	41,663	4,430	4,773	1,626
Derbyshire	13,666	29,377	730	24,390	1,789	1,977	491
Devon/Cornwall	16,433	31,040	2,409	23,336	2,837	2,211	247
Dorset/Hampshire	26,960	51,736	1,663	40,369	4,113	4,753	838
Durham/Northumbria	33,070	62,742	2,124	41,703	4,659	7,030	7,226
North Wales	16,263	29,036	1,069	23,534	2,249	1,425	759
Essex	14,671	27,554	223	21,299	2,908	2,311	813
Gloster/Wiltshire	14,090	27,237	633	21,677	2,299	1,858	770
Greater Manchester	46,451	82,736	689	64,604	6,249	8,565	2,629
Gwent/South Wales	37,610	70,943	2,023	55,724	7,010	4,315	1,871
Humberside	11,753	25,095	1,049	18,483	1,019	3,421	1,123
Kent	17,872	37,448	997	28,444	3,798	3,423	786
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	21,223	36,919	607	28,012	3,018	3,471	1,811
Merseyside	25,296	48,442	821	35,456	4,415	5,460	2,290
Norfolk/Suffolk	18,656	36,066	2,510	27,698	2,578	1,952	1,328
Nottinghamshire	17,560	37,200	843	33,064	890	2,955	2552
South Yorkshire	19,933	36,511	1,624	26,610	2,483	4,207	1,587
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	19,934	37,446	2,196	28,461	2,937	2,788	1,064
Sussex	20,242	41,593	1,791	32,375	4,622	2,289	516
Thames Valley	26,708	45,981	3,110	36,271	2,584	3,008	1,008
West Mercia	12,877	27,148	1,163	20,352	2,052	2,269	1,312
West Midlands	38,060	70,346	2,210	53,333	2,453	8,900	3,450
West Yorkshire	35,878	72,732	639	52,799	9,649	7,584	2,061
Total Field	786,333	1,500,972	56,760	1,107,485	108,900	134,923	92,904
¹ October 1987 to March 1988 only.
² Minus value.

Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

The minus value for Other Disposals in the Nottinghamshire Area is produced because the sum of advice only, completed, discontinued and committed to the Crown Court cases is greater than the total number of cases recorded as finalised. This result is produced because of limitations in administrative arrangements for obtaining the basic data in the Area at that time. The occurrence of such circumstances is now avoided by validity checks and controls which have since been introduced.

To ask the Attorney-General how many cases were (a) received by the crown prosecution service from police, (b) completed in the magistrates court, (c) discontinued by the crown prosecution service before or at the magistrates court hearing, (d) committed to the Crown court by the magistrates court or (e) otherwise disposed for each year since the instigation of the crown prosecution service in each crown prosecution service region.

The tables show the numbers of defendant cases in each category dealt with in the 31 areas of the crown prosecution service for each year since April 1987. Cases received for pre-charge advice are also shown. "Other proceedings", such as forfeiture under the Obscene Publications Act, have been recorded separately since 1991.

Table 2
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1988–89
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	176,686	169,844	1,263	107,070	10,683	16,073	34,755
London North	83,399	74,351	1,363	47,041	5,978	9,321	10,648
London South	73,715	73,877	1,712	52,558	6,839	6,036	6,732
Avon/Somerset	38,258	37,629	1,065	29,775	2,573	3,076	1,140
Herts/Bedfordshire	32,735	31,600	1,946	24,167	2,211	2,612	664
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	28,438	25,930	1,132	19,565	1,864	2,419	950
Cheshire	24,291	23,850	1,093	18,400	2,055	1,951	351
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire	38,637	35,958	2,327	26,500	2,435	3,271	1,425
Cumbria/Lancashire	57,891	58,937	7,310	41,361	3,648	5,079	1,539
Derbyshire	24,487	24,510	2,418	18,014	1,653	2,147	278
Devon/Cornwall	31,393	31,521	2,510	23,457	2,419	1,875	1,260
Dorset/Hampshire	59,983	57,588	1,474	46,198	3,759	4,660	1,497
Durham/Northumbria	67,852	64,376	2,827	41,463	5,778	6,476	7,832
North Wales	32,068	30,284	1,038	24,273	2,793	1,558	622
Essex	30,179	30,193	469	21,549	3,572	2,433	2,170
Gloster/Wiltshire	25,960	26,156	884	20,321	2,492	1,731	728
Greater Manchester	94,678	89,938	2,209	68,370	8,207	8,622	2,530
Gwent/South Wales	72,264	70,254	2,361	53,192	7,307	4,325	3,069
Humberside	27,276	26,591	1,320	19,309	1,715	3,458	789
Kent	34,392	34,807	1,116	26,216	3,719	2,999	757
Leicester/Northamptonshire	38,384	35,616	1,022	28,046	3,186	2,487	875
Merseyside	51,872	50,438	815	38,133	4,419	5,225	1,846
Norfolk/Suffolk	37,690	37,247	3,075	29,091	2,660	2,284	137
Nottinghamshire	38,507	36,464	618	30,304	956	3,324	1,262
South Yorkshire	44,934	41,685	5,045	28,502	2,866	4,101	1,171
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	40,008	38,935	1,897	29,351	3,236	3,012	1,439
Sussex	34,598	34,527	2,480	24,671	2,385	2,456	2,535
Thames Valley	48,547	45,479	3,189	34,056	2,748	3,051	2,435
West Mercia	26,777	25,946	932	20,567	2,241	1,787	419
West Midlands	79,276	77,450	2,125	61,123	3,029	8,526	2,647
West Yorkshire	78,941	66,367	603	45,877	11,288	7,352	1,247
Total Field	1,574,116	1,508,348	59,638	1,098,520	120,714	133,727	95,749
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 3
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1989–90
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	166,374	169,577	2,522	105,622	12,756	16,497	32,180
London North	82,137	73,167	1,920	46,689	7,236	8,484	8,838
London South	67,902	71,849	1,816	48,947	6,925	5,757	8,404
Avon/Somerset	37,910	38,190	1,225	29,238	2,965	2,918	1,844
Herts/Bedfordshire	32,376	32,535	1,851	23,836	2,694	2,565	1,589
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	32,495	30,527	1,020	23,591	2,410	2,559	947
Cheshire	25,452	24,749	1,143	18,664	2,369	1,978	595
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire	36,699	36,378	2,964	25,802	2,816	3,272	1,524
Cumbria/Lancashire	61,369	58,902	2,924	44,422	4,555	5,272	1,729
Derbyshire	26,755	25,840	4,264	17,096	1,798	2,282	400
Devon/Cornwall	34,051	33,937	2,320	25,240	2,518	2,606	1,253
Dorset/Hampshire	63,602	61,892	1,853	48,706	3,826	5,098	2,409
Durham/Northumbria	68,322	65,455	2,441	42,777	7,602	5,141	7,494
North Wales	34,621	32,937	865	26,121	3,477	1,597	877
Essex	34,542	34,109	176	24,359	4,592	2,432	2,550
Gloster/Wiltshire	28,221	27,270	840	20,857	2,989	1,626	958
Greater Manchester	101,713	98,186	3,099	74,557	9,143	7,756	3,631
Gwent/South Wales	76,175	71,402	3,721	52,209	8,311	4,787	2,374
Humberside	26,797	26,430	1,223	19,343	2,047	3,059	758
Kent	36,291	36,180	1,253	26,921	4,081	3,193	732
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	35,756	33,427	797	24,999	3,186	2,812	1,633
Merseyside	60,932	56,517	841	43,944	4,324	4,896	2,512
Norfolk/Suffolk	39,843	38,450	2,885	29,984	2,702	2,595	284
Nottinghamshire	41,323	39,371	894	32,848	1,674	2,811	1,144

	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
South Yorkshire	48,632	46,277	5,669	31,325	3,468	4,188	1,627
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	45,379	43,401	1,665	32,672	3,878	3,420	1,766
Sussex	36,267	35,364	1,641	25,567	2,737	2,562	2,857
Thames Valley	49,572	49,830	2,331	32,833	2,726	2,700	9,240
West Mercia	26,363	26,149	932	20,558	2,568	1,825	266
West Midlands	80,785	77,601	1,806	59,803	4,621	8,586	2,785
West Yorkshire	82,691	79,148	5,223	50,850	13,319	7,473	2,283
Total Field	1,622,347	1,575,047	64,124	1,130,380	140,313	132,747	107,483
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 4
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1990–91
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals
Inner London	149,066	154,355	2,518	90,613	12,507	15,997	32,720
London North	79,181	80,764	2,260	48,806	8,350	8,274	13,074
London South	65,872	65,781	1,882	43,195	6,775	6,121	7,808
Avon/Somerset	37,379	37,139	1,247	28,560	3,295	2,667	1,370
Herts/Bedfordshire	32,858	34,002	1,731	23,002	3,018	2,032	4,219
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	31,521	30,363	1,090	22,933	2,906	2,689	745
Cheshire	25,526	24,440	1,055	18,491	2,423	1,921	550
Cleveland/ North Yorkshire	38,070	36,286	2,119	25,948	3,117	3,612	1,490
Cumbria/Lancashire	63,795	59,425	1,946	43,834	5,118	6,184	2,343
Derbyshire	24,356	23,549	2,517	16,410	1,743	2,190	689
Devon/Cornwall	33,629	33,169	1,797	25,139	2,730	2,618	885
Dorset/Hampshire	62,045	61,971	1,180	48,603	3,784	5,531	2,873
Durham/Northumbria	73,573	71,632	2,725	46,092	9,319	5,425	8,071
North Wales	37,353	35,587	708	28,531	3,983	1,752	613
Essex	37,378	37,346	561	22,638	4,828	2,642	6,677
Gloster/Wiltshire	29,938	29,526	722	22,400	3,637	1,923	844
Greater Manchester	103,485	98,847	3,242	77,492	9,226	7,323	1,564
Gwent/South Wales	80,708	80,575	4,135	58,331	8,910	5,246	3,953
Humberside	27,952	27,283	1,407	19,269	1,999	3,282	1,326
Kent	33,685	34,183	1,276	24,030	4,844	3,266	767
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	36,957	38,676	922	28,211	4,128	2,870	2,545
Merseyside	61,576	58,631	671	44,591	5,236	4,800	3,333
Norfolk/Suffolk	38,674	37,232	3,453	26,968	3,142	2,561	1,108
Nottinghamshire	41,615	42,852	589	35,018	1,632	2,827	2,786
South Yorkshire	51,699	53,383	5,518	37,773	3,991	4,345	1,756
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	44,463	43,132	1,674	31,393	4,048	3,410	2,607
Sussex	35,943	35,466	1,572	25,590	2,627	2,899	2,778
Thames Valley	48,018	49,072	2,346	33,314	3,915	2,990	6,507
West Mercia	27,241	26,392	1,175	20,510	2,511	1,959	237
West Midlands	78,970	80,803	1,272	62,133	5,146	8,025	4,227
West Yorkshire	92,531	90,567	17,441	50,491	12,348	7,306	2,981
Total Field	1,625,057	1,612,429	72,751	1,130,309	151,236	134,687	123,446
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 5
Magistrates' Courts Cases 1991–92
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
Inner London	147,693	145,829	2,421	85,120	19,029	14,383	23,867	1,009
London North	79,637	74,897	2,233	47,219	11,778	7,480	5,307	880
London South	60,768	60,537	1,932	39,940	7,674	5,609	4,961	421
Avon/Somerset	36,472	36,832	1,074	25,461	4,550	3,042	2,174	531
Herts/Bedfordshire	31,273	33,392	2,272	20,148	4,228	1,597	4,383	764
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	29,788	28,562	1,311	20,291	3,142	2,668	908	242
Cheshire	24,766	24,901	849	17,792	2,701	2,050	850	652

	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
Cleveland/North Yorkshire	39,989	39,471	1,686	25,401	4,371	3,865	2,149	2,000
Cumbria/Lancashire	61,855	61,726	2,428	43,100	5,914	6,293	3,625	366
Derbyshire	24,801	25,054	4,031	14,984	1,595	1,958	2,144	343
Devon/Cornwall	33,194	34,170	1,297	25,541	2,747	2,271	1,898	416
Dorset/Hampshire	63,300	65,363	1,524	49,598	4,862	5,135	3,497	747
Durham/Northumbria	67,866	66,196	2,235	44,431	9,825	5,575	3,561	569
North Wales	38,774	37,161	810	28,426	3,693	1,670	2,028	534
Essex	41,888	38,387	1,454	27,537	3,333	2,410	3,319	414
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire	32,823	32,991	964	23,292	3,826	1,818	2,570	521
Greater Manchester	102,983	102,507	2,624	71,969	9,904	7,818	6,410	3,782
Gwent/South Wales	76,878	76,416	4,147	53,035	8,648	5,089	4,262	1,235
Humberside	26,238	26,158	1,557	17,702	1,792	3,109	743	1,255
Kent	29,179	29,907	1,072	19,502	4,848	3,025	1,182	278
Leicester/ Northamptonshire	37,856	42,023	1,288	28,766	3,807	3,162	4,537	1,046
Merseyside	56,711	61,230	762	44,812	6,428	5,321	3,453	454
Norfolk/Suffolk	38,188	38,695	3,254	27,715	3,434	2,706	1,200	384
Nottinghamshire	28,302	32,536	577	22,877	4,339	2,482	1,767	394
South Yorkshire	43,538	47,227	5,317	28,105	4,652	4,322	4,343	197
Staffordshire/ Warwickshire	45,059	45,261	2,068	32,713	4,643	3,404	1,696	737
Sussex	36,194	36,320	1,878	25,557	3,664	2,709	2,145	366
Thames Valley	41,994	41,889	2,342	28,095	5,717	2,810	2,394	530
West Mercia	25,094	26,379	1,748	18,444	2,829	1,652	1,310	359
West Midlands	77,827	70,992	709	50,197	7,984	7,028	4,184	890
West Yorkshire	90,247	85,844	15,473	50,877	8,454	7,206	3,408	436
Total Field	1,571,175	1,568,853	73,337	1,058,747	174,411	129,667	110,275	22,752
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

Table 6
Magistrates'Courts Cases 1992–93
	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
Inner London	146,480	148,352	2,749	80,785	22,538	11,440	29,075	1,765
London North	76,838	73,918	3,781	44,749	12,284	5,556	6,498	1,050
London South	58,390	58,182	2,322	37,363	8,481	4,720	4,845	451
Avon/Somerset	34,379	34,049	1,283	22,485	4,549	2,650	2,611	471
Herts/Bedfordshire	30,415	30,408	1,814	19,159	3,881	1,787	2,757	1,010
Cambridge/Lincolnshire	31,326	28,325	1,669	20,255	3,328	2,173	720	180
Cheshire	26,300	25,749	1,478	17,752	2,653	1,976	951	939
Cleveland/North Yorkshire	40,663	40,418	2,135	26,210	5,480	3,655	1,636	1,302
Cumbria/Lancashire	62,616	61,486	2,398	43,497	6,625	5,097	3,281	588
Derbyshire	23,285	23,613	3,967	14,200	2,062	1,711	1,386	287
Devon/Cornwall	30,174.	30,985	1,428	23,106	2,659	2,026	1,394	372
Dorset/Hampshire	58,043	59,271	1,750	43,874	4,724	3,913	4,330	680
Durham/Northumbria	68,353	69,382	2,151	44,856	12,478	4,748	4,656	493
North Wales	36,250	36,436	1,218	27,077	4,175	1,665	1,757	544
Essex	39,869	41,670	2,030	28,385	3,064	1,974	6,065	152
Gloucestershire/Wiltshire	33,417	33,434	1,168	22,858	3,835	1,496	3,014	1,063
Greater Manchester	105,716	103,350	2,382	71,911	10,541	7,568	6,202	4,746
Gwent/South Wales	75,537	77,529	5,083	50,273	9,395	4,684	6,647	1,447
Humberside	24,139	24,042	1,382	16,536	1,949	2,320	379	1,476
Kent	28,463	27,643	1,125	17,907	4,865	2,366	1,156	224
Leicester/Northamptonshire	38,202	40,406	2,334	26,174	4,773	3,104	2,973	1,048
Merseyside	54,586	56,090	1,099	41,584	5,960	4,835	2,238	374
Norfolk/Suffolk	36,760	37,951	3,484	26,610	3,156	2,244	1,651	806
Nottinghamshire	27,794	28,837	523	19,876	4,083	2,530	1,501	324
South Yorkshire	39,155	39,885	5,257	22,839	6,342	3,106	2,049	292
Staffordshire/Warwickshire	46,806	45,895	2,741	33,027	4,981	2,872	1,383	891
Sussex	32,739	32,186	1,719	22,082	4,011	2,049	2,038	287
Thames Valley	45,320	45,489	3,108	28,714	6,201	2,449	4,231	786

	Received	Finalised	of which:
			Advice only	Completed in Magistrates' Courts	Discontinued	Committed to Crown Court	Other Disposals	Other Proceedings
West Mercia	27,614	26,977	1,198	19,200	3,833	1,544	908	294
West Midlands	76,593	74,305	1,545	48,616	9,986	6,524	6,095	1,539
West Yorkshire	74,364	76,249	6,228	48,403	10,882	7,300	3,212	224
Total Field	1,530,586	1,532,512	72,549	1,010,363	193,774	112,082	117,639	26,105
Other disposals comprise committal hearings in which the defendant was discharged, cases where the defendant was bound over to keep the peace, instances where the defendant cannot be found, and other cases where the prosecution cannot proceed (e.g. through the death of the defendant).

To ask the Attorney-General what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of victims who are consulted when a case is discontinued by the crown prosecution service.

The crown prosecution service does not consult victims directly. Where appropriate the victim's views are made known to the CPS through the police, who are consulted before a case is discontinued and to whom the victims charter assigns the role of keeping victims informed about proceedings. The interests of the victim are an important factor in determining the balance of the public interest.

National Finance

Profit-Related Pay

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated cost in 1991–92 and 1992–93 of tax forgone by the Inland Revenue through profit-related pay schemes.

The latest information is as follows:

Estimated cost of income tax relief
	£ million
1991–92	40
¹1992–93	200
¹ Provisional.

Self-Employed People

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many self-employed people in Wales have claimed tax relief on personal pension payments in each of the last three years; and if he will indicate in each instance the number who have claimed the maximum amount of tax relief available.

In 1988–89, 1989–90 and 1990–91, the most recent three years available, the estimated numbers of self-employed people in Wales claiming relief on pension payments are 50,000, 60,000 and 70,000 respectively. Reliable information on numbers claiming the maximum relief is not available.

Rugby Football

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment the Inland Revenue has made of the implications of the Rugby Football Union report entitled "Inducements to Move, Incentives to Stay and Other Illegal Payments", a copy of which has been sent to him; and if he will make a statement.

The Inland Revenue is aware of the Rugby Football Union report. It is making inquiries to establish whether any players have received taxable income or benefits which they have not declared. It will take appropriate action when its inquiries are completed.

Water Expenditure

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what factors underlie the differential categorisation of borrowing for water supply purposes by Scottish, English and Welsh local authorities as respect Government expenditure; and what plans he has to bring the positions into line.

In Scotland expenditure by local authorities on water and sewerage is subject to the same controls as other capital expenditure. No distinction is made between borrowing for water supply and for other local authority capital projects.English and Welsh local authorities have no statutory responsibility for developing and maintaining water supplies, except in the Isles of Scilly and do not therefore need to borrow to finance capital investment. Supplementary credit approvals are issued by the Department of the Environment for capital expenditure in connection with the provision of supplies in the Isles of Scilly.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

Relatively few parliamentary questions are not answered substantively by Treasury Ministers on ground of disproportionate cost.

Overseas Contracts

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy towards British subjects working on contracts in the middle east for United Kingdom companies whose salary is administered in Britain for income tax and national insurance contributions.

The tax treatment of United Kingdom citizens working abroad for United Kingdom companies, whether in the middle east or elsewhere, depends on a number of factors, including their residence status for United Kingdom tax purposes; and the terms of any relevant double taxation agreements and the length of time they spend outside the United Kingdom.

I am advised by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security that, where individuals remain ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom while working abroad, they and the United Kingdom companies to which they are contracted are liable to pay class 1 national insurance contributions for the first 52 weeks of employment in most middle eastern countries. Contributions may be paid voluntarily by the individual after that time.

Israel is the only middle eastern country with which the United Kingdom has a social security convention. Under the terms of that convention, class 1 contributions may be due for the first five years of employment there. Liability would arise under Israeli national insurance law if the employment lasted for longer than five years.

Inland Revenue Solicitor

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the future structure of the offices of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue and the Solicitor of Inland Revenue (Scotland).

The offices of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue and of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue (Scotland) were two of the executive offices of the Inland Revenue established in April 1992 as part of the Inland Revenue's response to the next steps programme, Official Report, 6 March 1992, columns 319–21. These offices have been merged for management purposes to form a single executive office under the overall management of the Solicitor of Inland Revenue. However, the post of Solicitor (Scotland) continues to exist within the new office and the holder of the post continues to act as solicitor to the Board of Inland Revenue in Scotland. A framework document for the new office will be placed in the House Library shortly.

Petrol Tax

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the estimated amount of revenue that will be raised by (a) petroleum revenue tax and (b) petroleum excise duty in 1993–94.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: Forecast revenues in 1993–94 from petroleum revenue tax are £0·6 billion and from excise duties applied to leaded and unleaded petrol are £9·6 billion.

National Heritage

Drama Funding

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will publish a geographical breakdown of funding for drama provided by the Scottish Arts Council; and if such funding decisions rest with members of the drama committee or the paid officers of the Scottish Arts Council.

The geographical breakdown of funding for drama by the Scottish Arts Council is set out in the table. Decisions on revenue funding for drama clients are taken by the council in the light of recommendations by the drama committee. Decisions on funding projects and schemes are taken by the drama committee.

Drama¹	£
Borders
Jane Houston Green	200
Central
Federation of Scottish Theatre Ltd.	18,000
MacRobert Arts Centre	1,900
	19,900
Edinburgh
Benchtours	3,500
Communicado Theatre Company	156,873
Celtech Events	1,000
Edinburgh Puppet and Animation Festival	3,000
Edinburgh Puppet Company	9,000
Edinburgh Touring Circuit	3,000
Fifth Estate	34,000
Grassmarket Project	1,500
Hullaballoo Childrens Theatre	30,000
Pat Keysell	1,255
Duncan Low	300
Jo McNamara	3,000
Muirhouse Festival Activities Centre	900
Boilerhouse Theatre Company	13,997
Royal Lyceum Theatre Co. Ltd.	530,271
Streets Ahead Theatre Company	1,500
Scottish International Children's Festival	20,000
The Traverse Theatre (Scotland) Ltd.	323,793
Theatre Scotland	3,000
Theatre Workshop Edinburgh Ltd.	11,500
	1,151,389
Fife
Byre Theatre of St Andrews Ltd.	129,920
Glasgow
Annexe Theatre Company	3,000
Birds of Paradise Theatre Company	4,000
Citizens Theatre Ltd.	514,786
Clanjamfrie	7,500
Clyde Unity Theatre	41,000
Fablevision	20,000
Govan Initiative	2,100
Jane Jewel	1,000
Flloyd Kennedy	200
Music Theatre Lab.	5,000
Media Theatre Company	3,000
Pen-name Theatre	40,000
Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre	3,000
Jo Smith	300
7:84 Theatre Company Ltd.	175,702
Scottish Youth Theatre Ltd.	21,000
Scottish Drama	2,000
Scottish National Association of Youth Theatre	5,000
Phyllis Steel	200
Ian Turbitt's Puppet Theatre	300
Tron Theatre Ltd.	211,839
Tag Theatre Company	151,334
Visible Fictions	15,000
Woodside Area Arts Project	1,000
Winged Horse Touring Productions	18,000
	1,246,261
Grampian
Aberdeen Art Gallery/City of Aberdeen	11,000
Banff & Buchan District Council	1,500
Crathes 1992	1,500
The Invisible Bouncers	6,000
North East of Scotland Touring Arts
Co-Ordinating Association	5,000
	25,000
Highland
Eden Court Theatre	1,000
Grey Coast Theatre Company	22,000

Drama¹	£
National Gaelic Arts Project	18,000
Clown Jewels	22,000
Ross & Cromarty District Council	1,000
	64,000
Lothian
East Lothian District Council	57,541
Strathclyde
Black Box Puppet Theatre Trust	14,628
Borderline Theatre Company Ltd.	160,476
MacMyth Project	3,000
Cumbernauld Theatre Trust Ltd.	36,500
Edward Jackson	500
Wildcat Stage Productions Ltd.	190,021
	405,125
Tayside
Dundee Repertory Theatre Ltd.	266,486
Tayside Regional Council	650
Pitlochry Festival Soc. Ltd.	227,193
Perth Repertory Theatre Ltd.	266,987
	761,316
Island Authorities
Alan Watters	3,000
Others
Assitej G. B.	500
Half Moon Young Peoples Theatre	3,000
International Workshop Festival	2,500
Medieval Players Company Ltd.	4,000
Northern Stage Company	1,000
Oily Carte Theatre Company	2,000
Ra Ra Zoo	2,000
	15,000
Total	3,878,652
¹ All companies are listed within their home region. Many spend a large proportion of their time touring outside that area.

Marble Hill Park

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what legal obligations and other responsibilities passed on the transfer of ownership of Marble Hill park and house from the Greater London council to English Heritage in respect of the maintenance of Marble Hill park as a public open space and public amenity park including the provision of sports and children's facilities and public access to Marble Hill house.

No specific legal obligations were transferred upon the abolition of the Greater London council under the terms of the Local Government Act 1985, although English Heritage accepted a responsibility as a public body to manage and maintain Marble Hill house and park. Paragraph 13 of the Local Government Reorganisation (Property, etc.) Order 1986 conferred additional powers on English Heritage to enable it to manage the park as a public open space and provide recreational facilities.

Arts Subsidies

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much subsidy from public funds has been provided to the arts in each year since 1987.

Government funding for the arts is channelled mainly through the Arts Council of Great Britain. The Arts Council's grant-in-aid for each year since 1987 is set out in the table.

Year	£ thousand
1987–88	139,300
1988–89	152,411
1989–90	155,500
1990–91	175,792
1991–92	¹194,200
1992–93	221,200
1993–94	225,630
¹ This excludes a special payment of £10–8 million to enable the English National Opera to buy the freehold of the Coliseum.

The Government also fund the business sponsorship incentive scheme, the theatres restoration fund and various research projects. For 1993–94, total central Government expenditure additional to the Arts Council's grant-in-aid will be approximately £5·6 million.Local authorities also fund activities, but no definitive figures on their overall expenditure are available.

Overseas Development

Un Conference On Environment And Development

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals the United Kingdom plans to put to the EC Development Council on 25 May, regarding progress made in following up the commitments made at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development.

The Development Council will consider progress by the Community since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, including what the Community is doing to help developing countries implement agenda 21. As part of this, the Council will consider the findings of a series of expert groups, in which Britain has played an active part. These groups considered priorities in the implementation of agenda 21 in developing countries. Britain chaired the group which considered energy efficiency issues.

Africa (Aid)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of the overseas aid budget goes to countries in Africa; and which five countries in Africa receive the highest proportion of that aid.

In 1991–92 45 per cent. of bilateral aid which could be allocated by region went to Africa. The five top recipients were:

	£ million
Zimbabwe	37
Ghana	32
Kenya	29
Zambia	28
Uganda	26

Sub-Saharan Africa

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Overseas Development Administration's most recent assessment of the economic situation in sub-Saharan Africa; what are the economic prospects for Africa over the next 10 years on the basis of current international plans of action; and whether Her Majesty's Government will support the drawing up of a new international plan of action for economic recovery.

The situation of many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly the poorest, is likely to continue to be difficult and challenging. Where African Governments are implementing economic and political reforms, these are producing positive results which the United Kingdom and the rest of the international community will continue to encourage and support. This support takes the form of substantial concessional aid, debt relief measures and trading arrangements which provide good access for exports from African countries into important markets including the EC; foreign private investment can be increasingly important where African Governments create the right conditions.A framework for guiding international support is already in place at a regional level, through the global coalition for Africa and the special programme of assistance to sub-Saharan Africa and at country level. These arrangements allow African governments, OECD country Governments and key international agencies to collaborate and to co-ordinate support.

Mozambique

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what parts of Mozambique he regards, for the purpose of providing aid and development assistance, as Government controlled and what parts as RENAMO administered.

No such distinction is made for aid purposes. Aid is provided to meet identified needs wherever it is practicable to do so, taking account of the resources available and access to appraise and monitor use of the aid.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide details of the channels through which United Kingdom development assistance and food and emergency aid is distributed in Mozambique.

British food and emergency aid is provided primarily through non-governmental organisations, which are best placed to distribute to those most in need. In addition we have contributed to appeals from the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Childrens Fund.Longer-term development aid is provided in the form of balance of payments aid to support Mozambique's economic reform programme channelled through the Government of Mozambique's system for foreign exchange allocation; capital aid for projects mostly channelled through British companies, and technical co-operation which funds British consultants and experts for a range of projects and training programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much (a) food and emergency aid and (b) health care and medical project assistance the United Kingdom has given to (i) Government-controlled areas in Mozambique and (ii) areas administered by RENAMO, in accordance with the October 1992 general peace accord.

As required by protocol VII of the October 1992 peace accord a donor conference was held in Rome in December. At this conference we pledged £3 million of humanitarian assistance. About £1·7 million of this has already been spent mainly for seeds and tools programmes managed by British non-governmental organisations. None of this commitment has so far been spent on medicines. Since the peace accord we and other donors have succeeded in distributing humanitarian aid much more widely throughout the whole of Mozambique, although some areas remain inaccessible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the estimated levels of diversion and/or theft of United Kingdom aid in Mozambique; and what representations he has made to, or received from, the Mozambique authorities following Mozambican Government commissions of inquiry into aid diversion and theft in Mozambique.

The only reported losses of British bilateral aid have been pilferage of food aid. We estimate the losses to be less than 1 per cent. of bilateral food aid provided in 1992. All our bilateral food aid last year was provided through British non-governmental organisations, which employ contractors, paid on performance, to store and transport the food to specific destinations. Distribution to beneficiaries is supervised by NGOs.Distribution of food and other emergency aid is monitored at regular meetings in Maputo, to some of which RENAMO are invited. Our ambassador has taken up cases of pilferage with Ministers in the Government of Mozambique and provincial governors and has received assurances that action is being taken to prevent further instances.

South Africa

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the new South Africa development division will be operational in Pretoria; and if he will publish details of its first year's budget showing the split between higher education projects and other sectors.

The new British development division in southern Africa will open on 7 June and manage our aid programmes in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. We expect the new office to run programmes totalling about £35 million per year. Nearly 40 per cent of this is currently spent on higher education, including postgraduate training awards in a variety of sectors.

China

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 7 May, Official Report, column 260, if he will list the types of information provided by (a) International Planned Parenthood Federation and (b) United Nations Fund for Population Activities to his Department concerning China's population control programme.

IPPF and UNFPA provide ODA with information about (a) China's population policy and programme (b) their current programmes of technical and financial assistance to China and (c) their planned future activities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 40, on payments to the IPPF and UNFPA, what sums are planned to be given to these organisations in 1993, or the financial year 1993–94.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) on 10 May at columns 311–12.

Overseas Aid

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much has been spent on all aspects of overseas aid in each year since 1987.

The figures for gross public expenditure on aid to developing countries are as follows:

Year	Amount £ million
1987–88	1,410
1988–89	1,607
1989–90	1,733
1990–91	1,883
1991–92	2,021
We have also provided assistance to eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union states as follows:
1987–88	—
1988–89	—
1989–90	64
1990–91	14
1991–92	119

Full details on these figures are given in tables B1 and C1 of "British Aid Statistics 1987/88–1991/92", a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

Belize

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what help the United Kingdom gives to the Belize Government for rain forest work.

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: A five-year forest planning and management project began in May 1992. The total cost to ODA is £3·73 million. In addition, we have been funding since January 1991 a three-year appointment of a tropical forestry action plan co-ordinator; and have supported a number of land use planning activities which have a direct bearing on the management of the Belize rain forest.

Education

Data Protection

To ask the Secretary of State for Education to what investigations his Department has been subject by the Data Protection Registrar in relation to a suspected breach of a data protection principle; if he will summarise the nature of each complaint and state when the complaint was made; and what remedial action was taken by his Department to ensure future compliance with the principle subject to the investigation.

The Department's data protection co-ordinator has no record on any investigation by the Data Protection Registrar of any suspected breach of a Data Protection Act principle.

Select Committee Recommendations

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many Select Committee recommendations have been made about his Department since April 1989; and how many of them have been accepted.

The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I refer the hon. Member to the "Sessional Information Digest", copies of which are available in the Library. This lists Select Committee reports and provides reference numbers to Department responses where appropriate.

Special Educational Needs

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many children with special educational needs attended (a) mainstream state schools, (b) special schools, (c) mainstream state nursery schools and (d) special nursery schools at the latest available date.

The information requested is given in the following table.

Pupils with statements of special educational needs attending maintained schools in England—January 1992
	Number of pupils with statements
Nursery schools	298
Primary, middle and secondary schools	71,246
Special schools¹	79,198
¹ Includes 60 pupils attending special nursery schools.

Youth Service

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what proposals the Government have to provide local authorities with appropriate guidelines to ensure the provision of a wide range of quality youth work; and what priority he considers youth service provision should be for local authorities.

The series of ministerial conferences with the youth service established that the youth service is strongly committed to the principle of local determination. It is primarily for individual local authorities to determine their priorities and the type and mix of youth work provision to meet local needs and circumstances in accordance with sections 41 and 53 of the Education Act 1944.

Pre-School Play Groups

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the estimated financial value of the contribution provided by his Department in England to pre-school play groups in respect of each pupil per session for a year.

Responsibility for playgroup matters in England rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health. The Department for Education makes an annual grant to the Pre-school Playgroups Association for its staff training activities, amounting to £887,000 in 1993–94.

Class Sizes

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what analysis has been carried out by his Department on the impact of class sizes on educational attainment, distinguishing between impact on (a) primary and (b) secondary school pupils; and if he will make a statement.

The Department continues to monitor and assess research in this area.

Student Loans

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many student loans were applied for by students in Wales in each year since its inception; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the Student Loans Company. I will ask the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

Testing

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 10 May, c. 323, on spending on testing, if he will break down the figure given between (a) advertising and (b) production of leaflets; how many leaflets were produced; how many parents have to date asked for a copy of the leaflet; how many extra copies of the leaflet have been ordered to date; and at what cost.

The cost of advertising the leaflet "How is Your Child Doing at School?" is estimated at £415,000. Three million copies are being produced at an estimated cost of £148,000. A total of 981,000 copies of the leaflet were initially distributed to schools, libraries and LEAs at an estimated cost of £84,000. The number of requests for additional copies is still being compiled. A handout giving details about requesting copies of the leaflet will be available to people claiming child benefit at main post offices during the week beginning 31 May.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Education in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

According to the records available this Department has answered nine parliamentary questions to which substantive answers could not be given on the ground of disproportionate cost since November 1991. This figure represents 0·3 per cent. of the total number of parliamentary questions answered since that date.

Epileptic Students

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what provisions there are for providing teachers with practical advice in dealing with epileptic students; and if she will make a statement.

The Department does not itself produce advice for dealing with epileptic pupils and students; useful advice is, however, offered in information booklets produced by organisations such as the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation, the British Epilepsy Association and the National Society for Epilepsy.

House Of Commons

Garage (Car Removal)

To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee if he will arrange to have the car J767 CUU removed from the House of Commons garage; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Genetically Modified Organisms

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans he has to introduce compulsory food labelling for foods containing products of gene technology; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make it his policy to ensure that all foodstuffs produced involving the use of genetically modified organisms are clearly marked both individually and on their packaging to indicate this fact; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's independent Food Advisory Committee issued a consultation paper on 2 April seeking comments from interested parties on the labelling of foods produced from, or using, genetically modified organisms. Copies of the paper have been placed in the Library of the House.I look forward to receiving the Committee's considered advice which we shall consider with great care.

Animal Exports

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many live animals have been exported from the United Kingdom to each other EC member state since January.

Information on trade with other EC member states is not currently available. I shall write to the hon. Member when it is.

Iacs Forms

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what proportion of eligible agricultural holdings he estimates had not submitted a completed and admissable integrated administration and control system form by 15 May.

We have been encouraged by the very high proportion of IACS applications received by 15 May which we were able to accept as having been lodged with the Department within the deadline. We now have to carry out detailed checks to determine eligibility for payment.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information is as follows:

Month	Wholly disproportionate	Partly disproportionate
November 1991	3	4
December 1991	0	2
January 1992	0	0
February 1992	2	1
March 1992	1	0
April 1992	0	0
May 1992	0	0
June 1992	1	3
July 1992	1	1
August 1992	0	0
September 1992	0	0
October 1992	1	0
November 1992	2	0
December 1992	0	2
January 1993	0	0
February 1993	0	6
March 1993	0	4
April 1993	0	2
Total	11	25

These combined totals represent 122 per cent. of the written questions answered between November 1991 and April 1993

Milk Marketing Board

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will list the various milk marketing board liabilities which are to be transferred to residuary bodies under the terms of the Agriculture Bill [Lords]; and if he will make a statement.

Under the Agriculture Bill it would be for each milk marketing board in Great Britain to apply to Ministers after enactment for approval of formal proposals for the transfer and distribution of its property, rights and liabilities. I cannot prejudge what each board might propose or what Ministers would decide.

Granite Imports

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, pursuant to his answer of 10 May, Official Report, column 329, how many of the 50,000 tonnes of granite brought in from Sweden and France as part of the sea defence scheme have not been used and have consequently been removed by lorry, out of Devon, and at what cost; and if he will make a statement as to why British granite was not used.

All the granite brought in from Sweden and France was used in the sea defences at Beesands. I understand that, in addition, the contractor brought in by road some 11,000 tonnes of British rock to make up an anticipated shortfall in requirements, but in the event this was not needed for the sea defences and was removed, the immediate cost being borne by the contractor. The National Rivers Authority did not specify the source of rock when inviting tenders, only that most of it should be delivered by sea, so that the choice of British or imported rock was a commercial decision by the contractor.

Health

Health Authority Budgets

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total grant-maintained status budget for each year from 1990–91 to 1994–95 for each family health services authority and regional health authority.

Regional health authorities and family health services authorities do not have grant-maintained status budgets.

Maternity Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list by national health service region the hospitals in England which had consultant obstetric and/or general practitioner maternity beds in 1991–92 and 1992–93, with the numbers of beds of each type in each hospital and each region in each year.

The information requested for 1991–92 will be placed in the Library. Figures for 1992–93 are not yet available. Numbers of beds are now collated in terms of directly managed units and national health service trusts. Beds within one unit may be on more than one site or in more than one hospital. The information is set out in three categories: consultant, general practitioner and mixed. The category "mixed" is where bed use can be either for cases referred by consultants or by GPs.

Junior Doctors

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the number of whole-time equivalent junior hospital doctors and the total wage bill in each of the last five years; and what are the projected figures for the next two years.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave her on 20 April at columns 76–78, for the available information on the junior doctors wage bill.The available information on the number of whole-time equivalent junior doctors is shown in the table. The Department does not make detailed forward projections for the number of whole-time equivalent junior doctors.

Hospital medical junior doctors 1987–1991
England—30 September each year whole-time equivalents
	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
Senior registrar	2,865·5	2,865·4	2,980·3	3,270·8	3,399·4
Registrar	5,664·5	5,888·3	5,822·7	5,871·7	5,944·5
Senior house officer	9,371·7	9,883·5	10,563·3	10,800·9	11,210·7
House officer	2,782·1	2,861·3	2,938·9	3,013·7	3,052·5

Hiv

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will consider the preparation and publication of guidelines for a healthy life style for those who are HIV antibody positive but asymptomatic; and if she will make a statement.

Advice on healthy lifestyles for those who are HIV antibody positive but asymptomatic is primarily a matter for individual clinicians to advise on in consultation with their patients. General advice to people who are diagnosed HIV positive, including suggestions on maintaining their health and well-being, is available in various publications, including the Health Education Authority's leaflet "Being Positive—Living with HIV". Copies of this leaflet have been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what proportion of funds allocated by her Department for HIV and AIDS work in each year since 1987 has been devoted to HIV prevention;(2) what proportion of funds allocated by her Department for HIV and AIDS work in each year since 1987 has been devoted to support for the voluntary sector.

The table gives details of the proportion of funding from the Department of Health which has been allocated to:

National public education programmes and telephone helpline services through the Department of Health and the Health Education Authority;

Health authorities, since 1989–90, as a contribution towards the additional costs incurred by them in developing community-based local HIV prevention initiatives; and

The voluntary sector.

Percentage
Year	Public education (DH/HEA/helplines)	Health authorities Local prevention	Voluntary sector
1987–88	29·8	—	3·5
1988–89	13·7	—	1·5
1989–90	8·4	9·8	1·1
1990–91	6·7	13·4	1·2
1991–92	6·9	12·5	1·2
1992–93	5·3	10·0	0·9
1993–94	4·8	9·0	0·8
These proportions have been calculated in relation to the total HIV/AIDS funding made available by the Department of Health to health and local authorities and non-statutory organisations.
Funding for other aspects of HIV prevention, such as infection control procedures, is not separately identifiable within total allocations.
The figures for the voluntary sector do not include any additional funding from health and local authorities. This information is not available centrally.

Maternal Mortality

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what contribution the United Kingdom Government have made towards achieving the World Health Organisation target of halving the maternal mortality rates in the world by 2000; and if she will list the actions taken by her Department in furtherance of the Government's commitment to safe motherhood given in September 1989.

The Government support the World Health Organisation's "Health for All" targets, including those for maternal and child health.Efforts to reduce maternal mortality in England and Wales have met with considerable success during the past 37 years, over which period the rate has fallen from 100 to 5·6 per 100,000 total births. This success is a tribute to the long-standing co-operation between the professionals involved in maternity care.The Government are determined to build on the established excellence of national health service maternity care. An expert maternity group is currently reviewing policy on NHS maternity care, particularly during childbirth. The group's report, to be published in the summer, will be an important aid in clarifying how and where further improvements can be made. For the past four years, maternity services have featured in the NHS chief executive's annual priorities and planning guidance to health authorities. Authorities have been asked to undertake general reviews of their maternity services and to pay particular attention to specific issues such as improving access to maternity services for certain groups of women, for example, those from black and ethnic minority communities, and to arrangements for consultant cover of labour wards.

Hay Fever

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research she has conducted on the effect of air pollution on the incidence of hay fever; and what action she proposes to take.

None. The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.The Government's Advisory Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollution has invited two leading research workers, who are currently undertaking studies of the relationship between levels of air pollutants in London and symptoms among hay fever sufferers, to present information to them on this topic. The Department would ask the MRC to consider any research recommendations made by the Committee.Also, the chairman of COMEAP has been instrumental in establishing a working group on the possible effects of air pollutants upon allergic diseases under the auspices of the British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology. Staff from the Department are participating in the work of this group and will contribute to its report.

Nhs Trusts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent in each health service region on (a) printing and publication costs,, (b) publicity and public relations costs, (c) consultation and public meetings and (d) other costs connected with the proposed establishment of NHS trusts in (i) 1991–92 and (ii) 1992–93; and how much is expected to be spent in 1993–94.

Tables 1 and 2 show allocations to regional health authorities for 1991–92 and 1992–93 to cover consultation costs and trust start-up costs, including conveyancing. Detailed breakdowns of this expenditure are not available centrally. The Government are making available £2,042,000 for consultation costs and £36,271,000 for start-up and conveyancing costs for 1993–94.

Table 1
Regional allocations for public consultation on trust applications
Region	1991–92 £	1992–93 £
Northern	84,000	132,000
Yorkshire	72,000	192,000
Trent	120,000	204,000
East Anglian	36,000	120,000
North West Thames	168,000	120,000
North East Thames	108,000	156,000
South East Thames	120,000	132,000
South West Thames	48,000	84,000
Oxford	96,000	108,000
South Western	108,000	84,000
West Midlands	72,000	192,000
Mersey	96,000	84,000
North Western	72,000	84,000
Wessex	84,000	120,000
Total	1,284,000	1,812,000

Table 2
NHS trusts—Start-up and conveyancing costs
Region	1991–92 £	1992–93 £
Northern	1,506,000	2,310,000
Yorkshire	1,506,000	3,234,000
Trent	2,510,000	3,696,000
East Anglian	753,000	2,310,000
North West Thames	3,537,000	2,361,000
North East Thames	2,031,000	2,353,000
South East Thames	2,054,000	2,870,000
South West Thames	753,000	1,629,000
Oxford	1,255,000	2,079,000
South Western	2,259,000	1,180,000
West Midlands	1,506,000	3,370,000
Mersey	2,078,000	1,617,000
North Western	1,506,000	1,155,000
Wessex	1,757,000	2,310,000
Total	25,011,000	32,474,000

Diptheria

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information she has about the source of the diphtheria infection at Whitefield school, Nelson.

Health matters in Nelson are the responsibility of Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale district health authority. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. W. Ashworth, chairman of the health authority, for details.

Blood Donors

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she proposes to take regarding the banning of the use of blood and blood products from paid donors.

This country is self-sufficient in blood obtained from our voluntary, unpaid donors and we do not obtain supplies from other sources. It is our long-standing policy to pursue self-sufficiency in blood products made from voluntary, unpaid donations and seek to maximise the use of those products. We also recognise the clinical freedom of doctors to prescribe other products if considered more appropriate for individual patients.

Research

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much money has been allocated by her Department for research into (a) epidemiology, (b) aetiology and (c) the prevention of cerebral palsy in each of the last five years.

A research project into the epidemiology of cerebral palsy was carried out at the departmentally funded health care research centre between 1989 and 1991. Exact expenditure on the project is unavailable, but the total allocation made by the Department to the centre was £48,090 in 1989–90 and £35,011 in 1990–91.Departmental allocation for other research into the epidemiology of cerebral palsy in later years were:

Year	£
1990–91	15,200
1991–92	23,917
1992–93	17,083

The Department has allocated no money for research into the aetiology and prevention of cerebral palsy. The main agency through which the Government support research is the Medical Research Council which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. The Department has recently commissioned a research project into the treatment of cerebral palsy at a total cost of £71,335. This project began in December 1992 and will continue until November 1994.

Mental Health Act

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the new Mental Health Act 1983 code of practice will be laid before Parliament.

Very shortly.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by her Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information is shown in the table.

Year and Month	Number of disproportionate cost answers	Total number of answers	Percentage of Questions receiving disproportionate cost answers
1991
November	¹11	453	2·43
December	0	211	·00
1992
January	0	357	·00
February	2	335	·60
March	3	190	1·58
April	—	—	—
May	0	195	·00
June	3	498	·60
July	4	403	·99
August	—	—	—
September	—	—	—
October	3	270	1·11
November	3	571	·53
December	1	361	·28
1993
January	3	420	·71
February	5	571	·88
March	5	624	·80
April	2	338	·59
TOTAL	45	5,797	·78
¹These questions asked for detailed information on issues relating to back and other injuries to National Health Service staff and were answered together.

Pharmacists

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations she has received on the proposals to amend the pay of pharmacists.

We have received a number of representations about our proposals for restructuring pharmacists' remuneration. We shall take these into account in the further discussions we shall be having with the pharmacists' representatives.

Tuberculosis Vaccination

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information she has about the provision of BCG vaccination to school children on a routine basis;(2) if she will list those health authorities which

(a) provide the BCG vaccination to school children on a routine basis and (b) no longer provide that vaccination;

(3) what advice she gives to health authorities which (a) no longer routinely offer BCG vaccination to school children and (b) continue to routinely offer BCG vaccination to school children.

The advice from the Department of Health is that the schools' BCG programme should continue at least until the academic year 1995–96, pending the results of a survey of the incidence of tuberculosis in this country, which is being conducted by the public health laboratory service. Authorities which have discontinued a school's programme must have in place arrangements for vaccinating clearly defined at-risk groups and for offering the vaccine to any child whose parents request it.Information on the level of BCG vaccination in schools is not available on a routine basis, but it is estimated that 75 per cent. of the children in this group are vaccinated each year, with a further 5 to 7 per cent. already tuberculin positive who therefore do not require vaccination.It is understood that a small number of health authorities—less than 10 per cent.—have discontinued the school's BCG programme, but their names are not available centrally.

Overseas Contracts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy towards British subjects who work on contract in countries outside the EC which have no reciprocal arrangements with the United Kingdom on health care in cases where their salary is administered in Britain by United Kingdom employers and accordingly subject to United Kingdom taxes and national insurance.

National health service services are available only within the United Kingdom to people ordinarily resident here. United Kingdom nationals working in non-reciprocal health agreement countries are personally responsible for the costs of health care obtained abroad, but, subject to certain criteria remain eligible for NHS treatment in the United Kingdom. It is the Government's policy to negotiate reciprocal health agreements where it is practicable to do so.

Jeremiah Kearney

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will make a statement on the circumstances leading to the death of Jeremiah Kearney;(2) whether she intends to review the community care policy and procedures in the light of the death of Jeremiah Kearney.

I have asked the social services inspectorate to examine, with the local authorities, the circumstances of this case, and will write to the hon. Member when the inquiries are complete.

Manic Depression

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research is currently being undertaken to identify the cause of, and cures for, manic depression; and if she will make a statement.

The Department of Health is not currently undertaking research into the cause of, and cures for, manic depression.The main agency through which the Government support research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. I understand that it is currently funding several projects looking at manic depression.

Comfrey

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (I) what detailed studies have been undertaken into the toxicity of the alkaloids found in comfrey of which she is aware; and which were taken into account by the committee on toxicity when compiling its recent report on the toxicity of comfrey;(2) if she will list those pyrrolizidine alkaloids which were found by the committee on toxicity to be present in comfrey and which gave rise to its recent recommendation that comfrey tablets and capsules should be banned; and if she will indicate, in the case of each of those pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which are known to be toxic at the levels found in these products and which are not.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Taunton (Mr. Nicholson) on 19 April at columns 5–6.Copies of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's analysis of comfrey products, and of the advice of the Committee on Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment, which includes the key studies it considered, are available in the Library.

Pharmacies

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to amend the essential small pharmacy scheme; and what estimate has been made of the impact of different options on the numbers of pharmacies which dispense less than 2,000 prescriptions a month.

The Department is discussing changes to improve the essential small pharmacy scheme with the pharmaceutical services negotiating committee. Our proposals will ensure that patients continue to enjoy reasonable access to a local pharmaceutical service.

Public Telephones

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many representations he has received from deaf people about the unsuitability of the new public telephone booths; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.This Department has no record of recent representations along these lines. Condition 33 of BT's licence requires BT take all reasonable steps to install in all public call boxes apparatus enabling people using hearing aids designed for use in conjunction with telephones to do so.

Prime Minister

Data Protection

To ask the Prime Minister to what investigations his Office has been subject by the Data Protection Registrar in relation to a suspected breach of a data protection principle; if he will summarise the nature of each complaint and state when the complaint was made; and what remedial action was taken by his office to ensure future compliance with the principle subject to the investigation.

My office has not been subject to any such investigations by the Data Protection Registrar.

Defence Work

To ask the Prime Minister what initiatives he is co-ordinating to encourage the allocation of defence work and related employment to the north of England and Scotland.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Procurement on Friday 14 May at column 603.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Prime Minister in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information requested is available in the Library of the House. However, I have answered approximately 1,300 written questions since October 1991, just over 1 per cent. of which were not answered either wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost.

Trade And Industry

Dedicated Electricity Generation

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he published his departmental discussion document on dedicated generation; to whom it has been circulated; and when responses should be returned to his Department.

The Department of Trade and Industry's consultation paper on dedicated and own generation was issued on Tuesday 4 May to holders of electricity licences, the Director General of Electricity Supply, representatives of consumers, the electricity pool and others known to the Department to have an interest in the proposals.Copies of the paper are available from the Department of Trade and Industry, room 2.3.17a, 1 Palace street, London, SW1E 5HE, on request. Responses have been requested by Friday 28 May.

Trade Mark Reform

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to introduce legislation on trade mark reform as proposed in the White Paper, Cm. 1203.

A Bill to implement the proposals in the White Paper has been fully drafted. Unfortunately, pressure on the legislative programme has been particularly severe. We will introduce legislation as soon as the parliamentary timetable permits.

Leather Goods

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if it is the policy of Her Majesty's Government to press the European Commission for an improved system of origin marking for leather goods manufactured in the EC from leather produced outside the EC; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 6 May 1993]: No. A previous attempt to interest other member states in anC-wide policy on origin marking attracted little support.

Loan Guarantee Scheme

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the overall amount guaranteed under the loan guarantee scheme in each of the last seven years, the average amount guaranteed, the number of businesses that have taken up the scheme, the number of businesses that have applied for loans under the scheme, the number of businesses that have been refused loans under the scheme and the amount paid out under defaulted loans.

[holding answer 10 May 1993]: Information on the scheme is held by financial year. The number of businesses which have taken up a loan is not available; some businesses have had two or more loans. The number of businesses which have applied for, and the number that have been refused loans is not available. The number of loans guaranteed, the overall amount guaranteed, the average amount guaranteed and the amount paid out under the defaulted loans for each of the last seven financial years has been:

	Loans guaranteed	Value £ million	Average loan £	Default cost £ million
1986–87	1,042	39·94	38,300	18·5
1987–88	1,222	45·52	37,200	9·5
1988–89	2,266	63·61	28,100	8·9
1989–90	3,204	99·40	31,000	10·1
1990–91	3,387	84·56	25,000	21·7
1991–92	2,933	69·48	23,700	31·6
1992–93	2,342	52·35	22,350	22·4

Unleaded Petrol

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of petrol sold in the years 1990, 1991 and 1992 was unleaded.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: The proportion of petrol sold in the years 1990, 1991 and 1992 that was unleaded was 34 per cent., 41 per cent. and 47 per cent. respectively. In the first quarter of 1993 the proportion of unleaded sales reached 51 per cent.

Assisted Areas

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to publish his review of the assisted areas map; and if he will make a statement.

NHS district nurses and health visitors in training: by health board, as at 30 September
	1988		1989		1990		1991		1992
	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors	District nurses	Health visitors
Argyll and Clyde	1·0	—	6·0	9·0	2·0	18·0	6·0	11·0	—	—
Ayrshire and Arran	10·0	9·0	6·8	7·0	5·0	5·3	1·0	—	2·0	3·0
Borders	—	1·0	4·0	1·	5·0	—	4·0	—	1·0	—
Dumfries and Galloway	2·0	3·	1·0	2·0	2·0	1·0	2·0	1·0	1·0	2·0
Fife	3·0	5·0	1·0	5·0	5·0	4·0	3·0	4·0	—	1·0
Forth Valley	3·8	3·0	2·0	3·0	1·0	2·0	—	2·0	—	—
Grampian	19·0	23·0	20·0	18·0	22·0	15·0	7·0	8·0	3·5	1·0
Greater Glasgow	31·7	26·0	25·0	21·0	13·0	12·0	1·0	3·	—	—
Highland	5·0	4·0	4·0	3·0	5·0	2·0	6·0	—	5·0	—
Lanarkshire	10·0	11·0	5·0	12·0	2·0	2·0	1·0	1·0	3·0	3·0
Lothian	23·5	20·0	19·0	14·3	12·0	15·0	14·0	13·0	7·	3·0
Orkney	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Shetland	1·0	—	1·0	1·0	2·0	2·0	—	—	—	—
Tayside	8·0	10·0	5·0	6·0	11·0	8·0	4·0	6·0	7·0	6·0
Western Isles	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Scotland	118·0	115·0	99·8	102·3	87·0	86·3	49·0	49·0	29·5	19·0

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: I refer to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Stockton, South (Mr. Devlin) on 6 May, Official Report, column 206.

Scotland

Hospital Beds

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of acute beds each year since 1988–89, in each specialty in each major general hospital.

I shall write to the hon. Member direct with this information and place a copy in the House of Commons Library.

Free Prescriptions And Dental Treatment

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what percentage of people between the ages of 16 and retirement age, receive (a) free prescriptions and (b) free dental treatment.

An estimated 22 per cent. of the population between the age of 16 and state pension age are eligible for free prescriptions and 23 per cent. are eligible for free dental treatment. An estimated further 2 per cent. are entitled to some help with their dental charges.All young people under 18 receive free dental treatment.

Health Service Staff

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of (a) community psychiatric nurses, (b) district nurses and (c) health visitors in training each year since 1988–89, in each health board.

Information relating to community psychiatric nurses in training cannot be identified from data held centrally. The information requested regarding health visitors and district nurses is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of nurses in training each year from 1988–89 to 1992–93.

The information requested is shown in the table.

Nurses in training as at 30 September
Year	¹Number	²P2000
1988	10,801	—
1989	10,912	—
1990	10,524	—
1991	9,989	—
1992	7,979	1,403
¹Includes basic students and pupils, plus nurses on post-basic training courses.
² Project 2000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the number of health care assistants employed by each health board in each year since 1988–89.

The information requested is not available centrally.

Nhs Trusts

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what were the salaries of the unit managers who were appointed to the position of chief executive of NHS trusts, for the year 1992–93; what are their current salaries in their new capacity of chief executive; and if he will outline any changes in their conditions of service resulting from their new posts.

This information is not held centrally.

Sub-Post Offices

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment has been made of the effect on sub-post offices in Scotland of the proposal to remove social security payments from their remit.

No proposals to remove social security payments from the remit of sub-post offices have been made.

Playgroups

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what financial assistance is available from his Department for voluntary playgroups to meet the requirements of the Children Act 1989 and other legislation; and if he will make a statement.

Financial assistance has not been made available to local groups for this purpose. Many groups in eligible areas, however, receive assistance for their general activities under the urban programme. The Scottish Pre-School Play Association also receives grants under the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968 to provide member groups with support, advice and training.The provisions of the Children Act 1989 which govern day care, including playgroups, came into force on 14 October 1991. They were widely welcomed as a means of raising standards and improving the quality of the care provided for young children.

Paintball

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has to bring the law in Scotland into line with the law in England and Wales in so far as it relates to paintball markers and the sport of paintball.

[holding answer 6 May 1993]: My right hon. Friend is currently considering what action might be appropriate in the light of the recent Appeal Court judgment that certain types of paintball guns are specially dangerous weapons as defined by the Firearms Act 1968, as amended. Responsibility for amending firearms legislation is primarily a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

Elderly Patients, Haddington

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the provision of additional hospital accommodation for the continuing care of elderly patients in Haddington to replace the receiving ward at East Fortune hospital.

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: It will be for the East and Midlothian Unit NHS trust, if its application for trust status is approved, to take forward plans for the replacement of East Fortune hospital, in discussion with purchasing health boards.Assessment of the need for national health service accommodation for the continuing care of the elderly in East Lothian is a matter for Lothian health board. The provision of such accommodation is a matter for the board as purchaser and, if its application for trust status is approved, the East and Midlothian NHS trust.

Hospital Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many consultants are engaged in obstetrics and gynaecology in Scotland; and how many of these are women.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: There were 128 consultants in obstetrics and gynaecology in post in Scotland, of whom 14 were women, at 30 September 1992, the latest date for which information is available centrally.

Skye Bridge

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the length of the delays which have occurred in respect of the completion of the caissons for the Skye bridge; if he will explain the reasons for the delays and the degree of slippage in the original timetable as a result, with specific reference to weather and geological considerations; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 12 May 1993]: There has been a delay of approximately five months in placing both caissons on to the seabed from the original programme. This very difficult operation involves marine works in deep water and is highly dependent on the occurrence of suitable weather and tidal conditions. Delays due to inappropriate weather and tidal condition have also been exacerbated by the longer time being taken to prepare the seabed excavations in very hard rock. Both the design and geotechnical teams involved are ensuring that all due appropriate care is taken in this important phase of the work. By reacting appropriately to these difficult circumstances the contractor is confident that the completion date of mid-1995 will be unaffected.

House Building, Dundee

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he expects to receive and adjudicate upon the public inquiry report on the proposal to build houses in Kellas village in the city of Dundee district.

[holding answer 13 May 1993]: The public inquiry to which the hon. Member refers was convened on 23 March 1993 to take evidence from objectors in relation to the City of Dundee district council's rural area local plan. Objections to the proposals for housing development within Kellas village were heard in relation to the local plan. The reporter appointed to conduct the inquiry will report direct to the council. The Secretary of State is therefore not called upon to intervene in this process which is essentially a matter for the local planning authority.

Employment

Genetically Modified Organisms

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications have so far been received by the Health and Safety Executive for permission genetically to modify organisms; and how many centres are currently known to be conducting such work.

Three notifications for consent to undertake work involving genetic modification have been received by the Health and Safety Executive and 473 centres are currently known to be conducting such work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make a statement providing details of those projects for which permission has so far been granted genetically to modify organisms indicating, in each case, whether that work has commenced; and at which centre.

No consents have so far been issued.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what consultations are made by the Health and Safety Executive before granting permission for projects involving the genetic modification of organisms.

Before issuing a consent, consultation is undertaken with the Health and Safety Commission advisory committee on genetic modification, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of the Environment and, in relation to their territories, the Welsh Office and the Scottish Office. Members of the public have access to information about notifications received and the opportunity to make representations while the application is being considered.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if she will make it her policy routinely to report to Parliament details of those projects for which perMission is given genetically to modify organisms.

No. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) expect to receive some hundreds of applications for consent under the Genetically Modified Organisms (Contained Use) Regulations 1992 and the detailed information provided with them is copious and technically very complex. However, information about such consents is available from HSE—although the regulations allow some sensitive items to be withheld to protect intellectual property rights. The main elements of that information are held on a public register.

Health And Safety

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what new EC regulations there are concerning health and safety for the workplace; when they will be implemented; what measures she intends to take to ensure that they are fully implemented by all employers; and if she will make a statement.

On 1 January this year, the United Kingdom introduced the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations, the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations, the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations, the Personal Protective Equipment at Work Regulations, the Health and Safety (Display Screen Equipment) Regulations, the Manual Handling Operations Regulations, and the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (Amendment) Regulations to implement the EC framework directive on health and safety at the workplace and a series of associated directives which required implementation action by this date.There are a further seven adopted EC directives concerning health and safety at the workplace which are awaiting implementation covering biological agents at work, to be implemented by 26 November 1993; provision of safety and/or health signs at work, 24 June 1994; temporary or mobile construction sites, 31 December 1993; indicative limit values, 31 December 1993; improving the safety and health of workers in the extractive industries—boreholes, 3 November 1994, mines and quarries, 3 December 1994; and pregnant workers, 9 October 1994.In addition, there are five sets of regulations under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 in preparation which will be brought forward to implement EC legislation covering the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances; vocational training for drivers of vehicles carrying dangerous goods by road; and the protection of workers exposed to the risks of ionising radiation.Employers have a statutory duty to comply with regulations made under the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974. The regulations which came into force on 1 January 1993 are being enforced by the appropriate authorities in the same way as other health and safety legislation. The Government appreciate that employers need time to assimilate and implement new regulations and that timescales for implementation of EC directives are short. HSE inspectors are concentrating on promoting awareness and providing guidance, particularly where requirements are new or more prescriptive than earlier legislation. They will continue to take enforcement action where significant risks exist.My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced a scrutiny into the way EC regulations impact upon business. The scrutiny is due to report on 27 May. We shall study its recommendations with interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what plans she has to amend the current health and safety regulations for the workplace; and if she will make a statement.

The Department has no immediate plans to amend the current health and safety regulations which apply to the workplace.The Health and Safety Commission has a remit under section 1(2) of the Health and Safety at Work, etc. Act 1974 to seek to rationalise and modernise health and safety legislation, by means including consolidation, and has made substantial progress. In the context of the Government's deregulation initiative, the commission is now conducting a review of all existing health and safety legislation. The review, which should take about 12 months to complete, will consider whether further repeals or simplification are possible without endangering acceptable health and safety standards.

Construction Workers

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what policies she has to address problems encountered by British workers obtaining short-term employment on German construction sites.

My hon. Friend is right to draw attention to this issue. There are agencies, usually based in the Netherlands, which advertise vacancies in the British press for construction workers to take up jobs in Germany. Very often, these jobs turn out to be illegal, breaking German labour leasing and self-employment laws and involving evasion of tax and social security payments. British workers who take up this employment have no protection under German health and safety regulations. They face on-the-spot fines of several hundred pounds and are typically paid less than they have been promised. These conditions often leave people seriously out of pocket, forcing them to seek repatriation through the consulates general.Officials are entering discussions with the Dutch and German authorities to seek ways of curbing these abuses. Meanwhile, steps are being taken to alert British workers to the dangers involved. There will be warnings in information the jobcentres provide about working in Germany and accompanying the form E101, issued by the Department of Social Security to people seeking to work in Europe but paying tax and insurance at home.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Diplomatic Relations

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the basis on which Government Ministers can visit countries with which the United Kingdom does not maintain diplomatic relations.

The existence of diplomatic relations with other countries is not a precondition for ministerial visits to them.

Mrs Sikandari Jan

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a decision is to be taken on an application from Mrs. Sikandari Jan and her daughter Azra Bibi Khan made to the United Kingdom post in Islamabad, Ref. IMM/B4075, in October 1992 to enter the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

The high commission is awaiting confirmation of an offer of employment for Mr. Khan, the sponsor of Mrs. Sikandari Jan. They wrote to his potential employers to request this on 16 November 1992, and have since reminded Mr. Khan of the importance of this information, but have to date received no reply.

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much is scheduled to be contributed by his Department to United Nations peacekeeping operations for the current year; and if he will indicate the level of contribution paid out to date.

The United Kingdom contributes 6.373 per cent. on the scale of assessment to the United Nations peacekeeping budgets.We have paid our 1993 contributions 1 January to 31 March 1993 as follows:

	․
UNEF/UNDOF (Golan Heights)	1,068,752·00
UNIFIL (Lebanon)	4,659,637·00
UNAVEM (Angola)	1,514,184·00
UNIKOM (Iraq/Kuwait)	1,207,777·00
ONUSAL (El Salvador)	720,386·00
UNTAC (Cambodia)	19,499,962·00
UNPROFOR (Ex Yugoslavia)	20,311,627·00
ONUMOZ (Mozambique)	8,822,136·00
Total	57,804,461·00

The total United Kingdom assessed contributions for financial year 1993–94 were estimated at 1 April to be 145 million. Total figures are, however, difficult to predict accurately, as much depends on how operations develop, and exchange rate fluctuations.Recently approved further appropriations mean additional United Kingdom assessed contributions of ․9 million for UNPROFOR, ․15 million for UNTAC and ․1·3 million for UNIKOM for calendar year 1993. Formal requests for payment are received from the United Nations throughout the calendar year and paid promptly.We also contribute forces to UNTAC, MINURSO— western Sahara—UNPROFOR, UNIKOM and UNFICYP, Cyprus. Ministry of Defence costs for financial year 1993–94 for these forces were estimated at 1 April at £105 million. These estimates are also subject to revision as operations develop.

Croatia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans Her Majesty's Government have to invite the Croat President, General Franjo Tudjiman, to pay a state visit to the United Kingdom.

There are no such plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the United Kingdom's relations with Croatia.

We deplore the recent resurgence of fighting between Bosnian Croats and Muslims in central Bosnia, particularly around Mostar. We also take very seriously the reports of ethnic cleansing of Muslims by Bosnian Croats. The Croatians should have no doubt that these incidents will have a bearing upon the development of relations between Croatia and both the United Kingdom and the European Community.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether evidence is being collected by the EC war crimes investigators detailing alleged Croat attrocities against civilians in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The investigation of war crimes is not part of the mandate of the EC monitoring mission in former Yugoslavia. But ECMM members have witnessed the aftermath of atrocities. A United Nations commission of experts was set up to collate, investigate and analyse evidence of violations of international humanitarian law in former Yugoslavia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of Croatia about Croatian aggression against Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The president of the United Nations Security Council issued a statement on 10 May condemning the fighting between the Bosnian Croats and Muslims. The EC presidency, on behalf of the EC and member states, sent a firm message to President Tudjman on 12 May protesting at the renewed fighting between Bosnian Croats and Muslims in Mostar and at reports of ethnic cleansing carried out by Bosnian Croats. It warned that stronger measures may be considered if the Croatians do not bring these actions to an end.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he has reviewed the status of the United Kingdom's diplomatic relations with Croatia following the recent attacks by Croatian forces on civilians in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

No such review has taken place. But we are watching events closely in central Bosnia and expect President Tudjman to use all his influence to end the latest Bosnian Croat offensive and to prevent further atrocities. Unless this happens, the international community will consider taking stronger measures against Croatia.

China

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to seek an EC boycott of goods manufactured by slave labour in China's prison camps; and if he will make a statement.

We have no plans to seek such a boycott. In the United Kingdom the Foreign Prison-Made Goods Act of 1897 prohibits the direct import of goods made, or wholly produced in any foreign prison, or like establishment. We have repeatedly made clear to the Chinese authorities our concern about the widespread abuses of human rights in China and urged them, and other countries who have not yet done so, to ratify the relevant international instruments covering slavery, forced labour and similar practices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received about (a) the use of intra-uterine devices in China compared with other contraceptives and (b) the fining of women refusing or removing IUDs.

According to official Chinese reports, IUD use represented 41 per cent. of total contraceptive use in 1989.We are concerned that family planning regulations in some provinces stipulate the imposition of fines if IUDs are removed without prior approval.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on the practice of infanticide in China of babies born without state permission.

None. We are looking into this allegation urgently.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of (a) the draft model laws on population control issued by the Chinese central Government and (b) the laws made by individual provincial Governments; and what representations he has made.

We are concerned that some provinces appear to have coercive family planning regulations. We are opposed to the use of any coercion in population programmes and the Chinese Government are fully aware of our views.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has received about measures taken against parents by Chinese Government officials where women refuse sterilisation or abortion.

None. We are looking into this allegation urgently.

Yugoslavia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the policy of sanctions ais an effective instrument against aggressors in the former Yugoslavia.

Sanctions have proved an effective instrument of pressure on Serbia. They have contributed to the change of heart by the Serbian leadership which has now indicated its support for the Vance-Owen peace plan.United Nations Security Council Resolution 820 adopted on 17 April 1993 will further increase pressure on Serbia and Montenegro. We shall continue our active efforts to ensure that the recently introduced measures are enforced rigorously on a world wide basis. In addition we are examining ways of further isolating the Bosnian Serbs from the outside world. These efforts will continue for as long as the Bosnian Serbs reject the path to peace.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Croatian Government in respect of the rounding up and detention of civilians in and around the town of Mostar; and if he will make a statement.

The presidency, on behalf of the EC and member states, sent a firm protest to Croatian President Tudjman on 12 May condemning the actions of the Bosnian Croats, particularly in Ahinici and Mostar. It also warns that should Croatia fail to play its part in ending the fighting, this will have a bearing on Croatia's relationship with the EC.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make representations to UNPROFOR and the International Red Cross to investigate the results of the alleged atrocity at Bosanski Brod in Bosnia-Herzegovina where the mass grave was seen by hon. Members on 2 May.

To protect their impartial status, neither UNPROFOR nor the International Commit tee for the Red Cross is mandated to investigate alleged atrocities in Bosnia. The investigation of evidence of war crimes committed in the former Yugoslavia is being conducted by the United Nations commission of experts established under United Nations Security Council resolution 780.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the operation of sanctions in the former Yugoslavia; and if the policy will be extended to Croatia.

United Nations Security Council resolution 820 represents a significant toughening of sanctions against Serbia and Montenegro. Efforts continue further to tighten enforcement.As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs told the House on 12 May, the EC General Affairs Council discussed the question of sanctions against Croatia on 12 May, but concluded that such action was not justified at this stage.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the United States Administration in respect of the possible role of United States ground forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The United States is already playing a considerable role in Bosnia: United States aircraft are helping to enforce the no-fly zone and airdrop relief supplies into eastern Bosnia and United States vessels are taking part in the NATO sanctions flotilla in the Adriatic.We remain in close touch with the United States Administration over possible policy options and the question of ground forces in Bosnia.

Cambodia

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government have taken to prevent human rights violations in Cambodia.

The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia is mandated to oversee the human rights situation in the country.We have encouraged UNTAC in the various steps it has taken to pursue human rights abuses, including the appointment of a special prosecutor. As well as our assessed contributions to UNTAC's costs, we have made a voluntary contribution of £70,000 to its human rights component. In addition, we actively support human rights groups in Cambodia and have organised programmes in the United Kingdom for their representatives to meet British human rights groups and Government officials. We have also paid for the translation and distribution within Cambodia of the two international human rights covenants signed by the supreme national council in April 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to ensure that human rights are protected in Cambodia once UNTAC withdraws.

We co-sponsored the resolution at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva in February requesting the UN Secretary-General to appoint a special representative to co-ordinate the UN's human rights presence in Cambodia after the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia's withdrawal. The former President of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, has since been nominated for this role.The resolution also mandated the centre for human rights to run a human rights programme in Cambodia after UNTAC has withdrawn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what pressure is being brought to bear on the state of Cambodia to ensure co-operation with UNTAC and with the implementation of UNTAC's proposals.

The Secretary-General's representative to Cambodia and the signatories to the Paris agreements are in regular contact with the authorities of the state of Cambodia to secure maximum compliance with their obligations under the Paris agreements including those in respect of the electoral process, human rights and the ceasefire.

Northern Cyprus

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will now introduce restrictions on trade with northern Cyprus.

We are considering various options to secure the return of Asil Nadir to face trial. The question of imports to the United Kingdom from northern Cyprus is the subject of a case pending before the European Court of Justice.

United Nations

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will currently list all military conflicts between countries and all civil wars in which the United Nations has been involved; and what is the nature of United Nations involvement in each case.

The United Nations is actively involved in peacekeeping operations in the following geographical areas:

UNOMOZ (United Nations Mission in Mozambique)

Mandate: Verification of the ceasefire, the separation and concentration of forces, their demobilisation and the collection, storage and destruction of weapons; to provide security for vital infrastructure and to provide security for United Nations and other international activities in support of the peace process.

UNAVEM II (United Nations Angola Verification Mission)

Mandate: Originally to monitor the withdrawal of Cuban forces, the maintenance of the ceasefire and the elections. However, the crisis that developed after the election thrust UNAVEM into a central mediating role. The deteriorating security situation has now further limited UNAVEM's ability to facilitate negotiations between the Government and UNITA. UNAVEM's mandate expires at the end of May, and a report by the Secretary General is then due to discuss which direction UNAVEM should take.

UNIKOM (United Nations Kuwait Observer Mission)

Mandate: To monitor the Khor Abdullah (waterway) and a demilitarised zone (extending 10 kms into Iraq and 5 kms into Kuwait), to deter violations of the boundary through its presence in and surveillance of the DMZ, to observe any hostile or potentially hostile action mounted from the territory of one state or the other. Since 5 February 1993, UNIKOM has also had the powers to prevent physically, and if necessary redress, violations of the border or DMZ.

UNTAC (United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia)

Mandate: To ensure the ceasefire is maintained, organising the demobilisation of the factions' armed forces, arranging free and fair elections, creating a neutral political environment for those elections, overseeing human rights observances, repatriating refugees and relocating those displaced by war within Cambodia.

ONUSAL (United Nations Mission in El Salvador)

Mandate: Human rights verification. Monitoring the ceasefire and implementing the peace accords (including supervision of the demobilisation of Government and FMLN forces).

UNFICYP (UN peacekeeping force in Cyprus)

Mandate: Originally to prevent a recurrence of fighting, to contribute to the restoration and maintenance of law and order and a return to normal conditions. Since the hostilities in 1974 UNFICYP has taken on additional functions relating to the maintenance of the ceasefire and control of the buffer zone. It also carries out humanitarian functions.

UNOSOM (UN operation in Somalia)

Mandate: To provide a secure environment for relief operations, to undertake disarmament and to maximise protection of aid workers.

MINURSO (UN Mission for a Referendum in Western Sahara)

Mandate: To monitor the ceasefire and confinement of each party's troops to designated locations, to facilitate exchanges of POWS (under the auspices of the ICRC) and to organise and monitor a referendum for the self determination of the people of Western Sahara.

UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon)

Mandate: To confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces, restore international peace and security, and assist the Government of Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in Southern Lebanon. To prevent the recurrence of fighting and to ensure that its area of operation would not be used for hostile activities of any kind.

UNPROFOR (UN Protection Force in the former Republic of Yugoslavia)

Mandate: Wide ranging, but focusing in particular on

(a) Bosnia—protective support for the delivery of humanitarian aid and

(b) in Croatia—implementation of the Vance plan.

In addition to the above, the UN is also involved in several other countries eg Haiti, South Africa, Syria/Israel, India/Pakistan. In these instances its role is principally as an observer.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information requested is a matter of public record available through the facility of the House Library. During the period 9 November 1991 to 7 May 1993 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, including the Overseas Development Administration, replied to 4,374 questions. A substantive answer was not provided to 23 of these questions wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost.

Mozambique

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Mozambique Government since October 1992, regarding the Government's abuse of human rights prior to the signing of the peace accord.

Since October 1992, we have made no representations either to the Government of Mozambique or to RENAMO about human rights abuses. We have encouraged both the Government and RENAMO to proceed with full implementation of the general peace agreement which they signed in October 1992. The agreement includes detailed provisions for the protection of human rights and freedom of political expression.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what official contacts and meetings he or his officials have had with RENAMO party officials since the signing of the peace accord in October 1992.

The RENAMO leader met my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and my right hon. and noble Friend Baroness Chalker of Wallasey during his visit to London on 22 February 1993 and had talks with officials. Our Ambassador in Maputo has travelled to the RENAMO leader's base in Northern Mozambique several times to impress upon him the need to proceed with the implementation of the general peace agreement of October 1992. We have maintained regular contacts with RENAMO officials when they have been in Maputo.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what United Kingdom development assistance in Mozambique since October 1992 has taken the form of political and democratic training for (a) Government organisations and (b) RENAMO;(2) what is his policy with regard to providing assistance for opposition parties prior to elections in Mozambique to establish democratic party structures.

We have made no direct financial contribution for democratic training for personnel of government organisations, or of FRELIMO, the ruling party. We have, however, assisted opposition parties preparing for elections by the provision, from diplomatic wing funds, of £18,000 worth of office equipment for RENAMO's office in Mapuo, and small amounts for three other parties—PCN, PPPM and UNAMO.

Wales

Trunk Roads

22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the planned expenditure by his Department on trunk roads in (a) Dyfed and (b) Wales in each of the next five years.

Central Government provision for trunk roads in Wales In 1993–94 is £194 million. An analysis by county is not available as the programme is subject to changing engineering, statutory and financial considerations.Provision for future years will be announced in the usual way.

Grant-Maintained Schools

13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many schools in Wales have become grant-maintained schools.

Seven, and well over 100 schools have contacted my Department for information about becoming grant-maintained. I am pleased to announce that my right hon. Friend has today decided that Ysgol Derwen in Clwyd shall become the eighth grant-maintained school in Wales from 1 September this year.

Labour Statistics

14.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is his latest estimate of the number of (a) men in employment, full time and part time and (b) women in employment, full time arid part time in Mid Glamorgan.

The 1991 census of employment shows that there were 70,100 and 4,800 men in full and part-time employment respectively in Mid Glamorgan. The corresponding figures for females were 41,400 and 35,800 respectively.

Development Policy

16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he next intends to meet Mr. Milian, the EC Commissioner for Regional Development, to discuss recent development policy in Wales.

I met Commissioner Milian on 15 March. I have invited the Commissioner to visit South Wales later this year.

Cardiff Bay Barrage

17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans the Cardiff Bay development corporation has to employ extra staff in relation to the Cardiff bay barrage project during and after construction.

Cardiff Bay development corporation has no plans to employ extra staff in relation to the Cardiff bay barrage during its construction stage. It is, however, appointing project management consultants to oversee the construction contract. After construction it is estimated that the operation of the barrage and management of the inland bay will require an additional 18 public sector staff, as set out in the explanatory and financial memorandum to the Cardiff Bay Barrage Bill.

Local Government Boundaries (Delyn)

18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he expects to meet representatives of Delyn borough council to discuss proposed local government boundaries.

As soon as a meeting can be arranged.

Regional Policy

19.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the review of EC regional policy and its impact in Wales.

I have sought and received many representations from our structural funds partners. My officials are consulting fully the local authorities, other bodies and the voluntary sector through the review working groups set up for the purpose.

British Columbia

20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what steps he is taking to further both economic and cultural links with the province of British Columbia.

My right hon. Friend the Minister of State is to lead a trade mission to North America from 14 to 28 September. One destination of this mission will be Vancouver, British Columbia. Twenty-five Welsh firms have so far expressed an interest in participating.

Road Building (North-East Wales)

21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement concerning his plans for further road building in north-east Wales.

Our plans are set out in the 1993 supplement to "Roads in Wales: Progress and Plans for the 1990s".

Local Government Boundaries

22.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what further representations he has received on his proposal to remove the communities of Coychurch Lower, Ewenny, St. Bride's Major and Wick from the proposed Bridgend unitary authority to the Vale of Glamorgan; how many were in favour; and how many against.

Since my hon. Friend's reply to the hon. Gentleman on 29 March, I have received a further 63 written representations regarding my decision to incorporate the communities of Coychurch Lower, Ewenny, St. Brides Major and Wick into a Vale of Glamorgan unitary authority. Two have been in favour and 61 against.

Rural Economy

23.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assistance the Government are giving to the development of the rural economy in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's policies for developing the rural economy in Wales have gained a new momentum since the launch of the rural initiative in February 1991. A wide range of measures is now in place to help create a self-sustaining market economy and to thereby secure for rual communities the long-term prosperity which is this Government's aim.I refer my hon. Friend to the Government's Expenditure Plans 1993–94 to 1995–96, Departmental Report by Welsh Office (Command Paper 2215) for more detailed information.

Local Health Authorities (Capital Projects)

24.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met representatives of local health authorities in Wales to discuss capital projects.

I last met the chairmen of DHAs and FHSAs on 15 April 1993 and discussed a wide range of issues.

Rechar

25.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he last met the European Commissioner for regional affairs to discuss the progress made on the distribution of RECHAR money within Wales.

I met Commissioner Millan on 15 March to discuss matters relating to structural funds programmes in Wales. The RECHAR programme monitoring committee has identified projects to take up the whole of the resources made available to the South Wales programme area: these will be fully committed by the end of the year to good projects aimed at the economic and social regeneration of the programme area.

Sustainable Development Plan

26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received concerning the preparation of a sustainable development plan for Wales.

I have received a number of representations from Welsh interests concerning the preparation of the United Kingdom's sustainable development plan.

Social Work Courses

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the social work diploma courses available in further and higher education colleges in Wales; how many people qualified from such courses in the last two years; and what information he has on how many of those obtaining qualifications were Welsh speakers.

Outside the University of Wales, information collected from further education student records shows that the following colleges of higher and further education introduced a two-year diploma of social work course in 1992–93:

Students enrolled on first year in 1992–93 (provisional)
Institution	Numbers
North East Wales Institute with Gwynedd Technical College	39
Cardiff Institute of Higher Education with Bridgend College	123

The FESR does not record the numbers qualifying or the numbers of Welsh speakers.

The diploma in social work, validated by the Central Council for the Education and Training of Social Work, replaces the programmes leading to the certificate in social service and the certification of qualification in social work.

Tourism

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what are the 10 most popular (a) day trip and (b) overnight tourist destinations in Wales; and how many people visited each of them in 1991–92.

Information on tourist destinations is not centrally available in the form requested. Visitors to tourist attractions are published in the "Digest of Welsh Statistics" each year and the 10 most popular attractions recorded in 1991, the latest available, were:

Attraction	Visitors in 1991 (000's)
Ocean Beach Amusement Park, Rhyl	600·0
Padarn County Park, Llanberis	450·0
Barry Island Log Flume	430·2
Pembrey Country Park	386·0
James Pringle Weavers, Llanfair PG	385·9
Oakwood Leisure Park, near Narberth	370·0
Penscynor Wildlife Park, Neath	289·0
Welsh Folk Museum, St. Fagans	287·8
Portmeirion, Penrhyndeudraeth	285·5
Rhyl Suncentre	262·2
	Answered 17 May 1993

Nhs Suspensions

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many NHS hospital doctors and consultants are currently under suspension pending inquiries and disciplinary action.

This information is not available centrally.

Pharmacists

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many registered pharmacists in Wales currently dispense fewer than 2,000 prescriptions a month.

Information on the number of pharmacists working in community pharmacies in Wales is not held centrally. However, in each month on average, for the last 12 months ending 28 February 1993, there were 124 pharmacies in Wales which dispensed fewer than 2,000 prescriptions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has received on the proposals to amend the pay of pharmacists.

Up to 13 May, a dozen representations had been received from local pharmaceutical committees, community health councils and individual pharmacists, and 22 from Members of Parliament writing on behalf of local pharmaceutical committees and individual pharmacists.

Epileptic Students

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what provisions there are in Wales for providing teachers with advice and training on dealing with epileptic students; and if he will make a statement.

The Welsh Office has issued no specific advice to teachers on dealing with epileptic students. However, organisations such as the National Society for Epilepsy, the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation and the British Epilepsy Association have produced booklets and a resource pack of educational material. The Welsh Epilepsy Association is giving consideration to providing information through the medium of Welsh.A Welsh Office commissioned report by the Wales Council for the Disabled on epilepsy generally was produced in October 1991, which includes reference to the position in schools. The Welsh Office has been involved in seminars run by the Wales Council to consider the findings and implications of that report.

Agri-Environment Schemes

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to introduce a multi-annual zonal agri-environment scheme for the whole of Wales; and if he will make a statement.

My proposals for the implementation of the agri-environment regulation in Wales have been distributed to over 140 interested bodies or individuals. The responses received to the consultation exercise are now being examined and I shall make an announcement in July.

Disability Living Allowance

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 11 May, Official Report, column 443, when he expects the information on receipt of disability living allowance to be available separately for Wales.

I will write to the hon. Gentleman when the information becomes available which is likely to be towards the end of 1993.

Local Plans

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a list of those district councils in Wales that have local plans which have been adopted.

The information requested is as follows:

Adopted local plans
Authority	Local Plan
Aberconwy BC	Llandudno/Conwy
Arfon BC	Rural Arfon
	Menai Strait (part)
Blaenau Gwent BC	Tredegar
	Abertillery
	Ebbw Vale
	Brynmawr, Nantyglo and Blaina
Brecknock BC	Hay/Talgarth District (part)¹
	Central Powys (part)¹
Cardiff CC	East Moors
	South Butetown
	West Ely/St. Fagans
	North Butetown
	Lisvane
	Radyr/Morganstown
	Canton/Riverside
	Adamsdown/Splott
	Tongwynlais and the Wenallt
	Grangetown
Colwyn BC	Coastal Colwyn
Cynon valley BC	Hirwaun and District
	Abernant/Plasdraw
	Aberaman/Abercwmboi and Cwmbach
	Cwmdare/Trecynon and Llwydcoed
	Central Aberdare¹
	Aman valley
	Ynysybwl
	Abercynon
Delyn BC	Mold
Dinefwr BC	Black Mountain¹
Dwyfor DC	Porthmadog/Ffestiniog (part)¹
	Pwllheli Rural Dwyfor
Islwyn BC	Trinant and Pentwyn
Llanelli BC	Wern Action Area
Lliw valley BC	Southern Lliw valley
Meirionydd DC	Ardudwy¹
	Llanelltyd¹
	Porthmadog/Ffestiniog (part)¹
Merthyr Tydfil BC	Nelson and Treharris (part)1
Monmouth BC	Abergavenny
Newport BC	South East Newport
Ogwr BC	Ogmore and Garw
	Greater Bridgend
Port Talbot BC	Upper Afan valley
	Cwmafan, Bryn, Goytre valley and Rural Margam
Radnor DC	Hay/Talgarth (part)¹
	Central Powys (part)¹
Rhondda BC	Rhondda
	Tonypandy and Clydach Vale

Authority	Local Plan
Rhymney valley DC	Caerphilly Basin
	Mid Rhymney valley
	Upper Rhymney valley
	Nelson and Treharris (part)¹
Swansea CC	Swansea
Torfaen BC	South East Pontypool
Vale of Glamorgan BC	Barry
	Barry-Penarth Coastal
	Cowbridge
	East Vale
Wrexham Maelor BC	Wrexham Maelor
Ynys Mon BC	Menai Strait (part)
There is complete coverage by adopted local plans in Rhondda, Swansea and Wrexham Maelor.
In addition there are two subject local plans, for the Special Landscape Area in Clwyd and for Touring Caravans and Tents in Gwynedd¹
¹ Prepared by, or in cooperation with the relevant County Council.

Economically Inactive People

15.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the latest percentage and actual figures for economically inactive adult males.

The 1991 census recorded 348,356 aged 16 or over as economically inactive which includes all those retired, permanently sick, students with a job in the week before the census and other inactive. This represents 32.4 per cent. of all males aged 16 or over.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 11 May, Official Report, column 444, if he will express the figures for residents aged 16 years or over classified as economically inactive in each (a) district and (b) county in Wales as a percentage of their respective populations.

The information requested is given in the following table:

Percentage residents aged 16 and over economically inactive
	Percentage
Alyn and Deeside	37·0
Colwyn	49·5
Delyn	39·8
Glyndwr	42·8
Rhuddlan	49·4
Wrexham Maelor	41·7
CLWYD	42·8
Carmarthen	44·5
Ceredigion	46·2
Dinefwr	48·4
Llanelli	49·9
Preseli Pembrokeshire	43·9
South Pembrokeshire	46·3
DYFED	46·5
Blaenau Gwent	47·9
Islwyn	44·1
Monmouth	40·3
Newport	42·0
Torfaen	43·0
GWENT	43·3
Aberconwy	46·7

	Percentage
Arfon	44·0
Dwyfor	48·2
Meirionnydd	45·7
Ynys Mon-Isle of Anglesey	45·6
GWYNEDD	45·8
Cynon Valley	48·4
Merthyr Tydfil	48·5
Ogwr	44·2
Rhondda	51·0
Rhymney Valley	45·2
Taff-Ely	40·2
MID GLAMORGAN	45·7
Brecknock	43·8
Montgomeryshire	39·9
Radnor	42·5
POWYS	41·8
Cardiff	41·6
Vale of Glamorgan	41·1
SOUTH GLAMORGAN	41·4
Lliw Valley	45·3
Neath	47·3
Port Talbot	49·7
Swansea	46·1
WEST GLAMORGAN	46·7

Source: OPCS Census County Report Series Part 1.

Industrial Injuries Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) men and (b) women in Wales currently receive industrial injuries benefit; how many of them are between 50 and 65 years; and what percentage of the total Welsh population receives industrial injury benefit.

[holding answer 11 May 1993]: The latest available information on those in receipt of industrial injuries disablement benefit in Wales is given in the following table:

Industrial injuries disablement benefit assessments in Wales¹ at 4 April 1992
	All ages	Aged 50 to 65 years
Males
Number	16,910	5,550
Percentage of population within the age group	1·2	2·3
Females
Number	1,720	670
Percentage of population within the age group	0·1	0·3

Sources: 10 per cent. sample of Department of Social Security cases, OPCS 1991 mid-year estimates of population (provisional).

¹ A small number of people may have more than one assessment.

Invalidity Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many (a) men and (b) women receive invalidity benefit in Wales; what percentage of those are aged between 50 and 65 years; and what are each of those figures as percentages of the Welsh population.

[holding answer 11 May 1993]: The latest available information on those in receipt of invalidity benefit in Wales is given in the following table:

Invalidity benefit beneficiaries in Wales at 30 March 1991
	All ages	Aged 50 to 65 years	50 to 65 years as a percentage of all ages
Males
Number	108,400	66,400	61
Percentage of population within the age group	7·7	27·2	1
Females
Number	38,200	18,300	48
Percentage of population within the age group	2·6	7·2	1

Source: 1 per cent. sample of claimants, Department of Social Security, OPCS provisional 1991 mid-year estimates of population.

¹ Not applicable.

Environment

Hostels (Planning Permission)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to amend the change of use regulations to enable planning permission to be required to convert hotels and guest houses to hostels for social security claimants; and if he will make a statement.

There are no immediate plans to amend the Use Classes Order 1987, although its operation is kept under periodic review. Our general approach towards change of use of land and buildings is to conserve a balance between the need to protect neighbourhoods from loss of amenity and the need for property owners to have reasonable freedom to adapt to changing market conditions.

Residential Letting

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he is taking to encourage the letting for residential purposes of vacant premises above high street shops; and if he will make a statement.

Under the Department's flats over shops initiative, £25 million is being made available between 1992–93 and 1994–95 to bring empty space over commercial premises into housing use. The scheme aims to encourage, by demonstration, other private property owners to consider similar action for their own wasted space. The Housing Corporation also makes funds available for such schemes under its approved development programme. The Department has issued some 2,900 flats over shop information packs and has helped to host a joint DOE/Property Managers Association seminar for retrial and commercial institutions. In addition, the Department is part funding the living over the shop project which works with a number of local authorities on renovating and letting vacant flats over shops, as well as the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors' "Spare Space?" project.

Land Purchases

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 4 May, Official Report, column 39, what proposals he has to ensure that housing associations purchase land at a price fixed by valuation; and if he will make a statement.

The Housing Corporation has procedural requirements, laid down in its procedure guide, which housing associations have to follow when acquiring land.Associations whose schemes are approved individually must acquire land at or less than the valuation set by an independent, qualified valuer within the procedures established by the Housing Corporation.Associations whose development programme is approved on the basis of a cash programme must demonstrate that an independent qualified valuer has verified the basis for the negotiation on which the land purchase has been made. If these associations pay more than that valuation, they have to meet the extra cost from their own resources. The valuations must not be more than six months old at the date of exchange of contracts.

Revocation Orders

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 6 May, Official Report, column 174, he will state the nature of the planning revocation order in 1991 to which he refers.

The order issued in 1991 revoked the planning permission granted by Wealden district council for the erection of a dwelling at Ninfield, East Sussex.

Multiple Occupation Houses

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration is being given to the abolition of licence controls over houses in multiple occupation.

Common lodging houses are the only houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) which are subject to mandatory licensing, under provisions contained in part XII of the Housing Act 1985.The Department has issued a consultation paper on the repeal of part XII. The comments of those who responded are being considered. No decision has yet been taken as to whether to proceed with the repeal.Other HMOs may be subject to registration under schemes set up by some local authorities under section 346 of the Housing Act 1985. We are considering whether we should review the need for such registration schemes.

Urban Deprivation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which contractors were asked to tender for the work devising the indicators of urban deprivation now being prepared by the Centre for Urban Policy Studies; for what reasons CUPS were chosen to carry out the work; whether other academic bodies will be asked to comment on the proposed indicators and the methodology for devising them; whether the final recommendations will be incorporated into standard spending assessment formulae; and whether similar work will be undertaken into rural deprivation.

This contract was let by competitive tender. To disclose the names of tenderers would breach commercial confidence. The CUPS tender offered the best value for money in terms of meeting the study's objectives and price. We have invited the local authority associations and voluntary organisations to comment on the indicators and methodology proposed by CUPS, and copies of the proposals have been sent to others on request. The current review of SSAs will include consideration of a range of social factors relevant to the costs of providing local services. We do not intend formally to incorporate the outcome of the CUPS research in SSA formulae. The Rural Development Commission, funded through the Department of the Environment, has ongoing research into rural disadvantage. It has recently consulted on census and unemployment data for use in assessing economic and social need in rural areas.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

Information for the past 18 months is not readily available in the form requested. However, since the beginning of this Session my Department has answered over 4,600 parliamentary questions, 16, or 0.003 per cent., of which have not been given a substantive answer wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost. The monthly breakdown is as follows:

	Number
November 1992	2
December 1992	2
January 1993	8
February 1993	0
March 1993	2
April 1993	1
May 1993	0
June 1993	1

Liverpool Projects

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total funding from Her Majesty's Government towards the rehabilitation of St. George's hall, Liverpool; and if he will make a statement.

Her Majesty's Government resources in the form of urban programme funding, from my Department, totals some £4,875,531 since mid-1990.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the total cost of funding from Her Majesty's Government towards the cost of the rehabilitation of London road, Liverpool; what is the approximate date of completion; and if he will make a statement.

A figure for the total contribution by Her Majesty's Government to this area will not be available until the conclusion of the five year Liverpool city challenge programme of which London road is an integral part. To date, grants totalling £3,882,000 have been offered to projects in the area, in addition to which city challenge has allocated £750,000 over five years to the London road development agency. My officials and the city challenge team are involved in ongoing discussions with developers regarding numerous other projects which may attract grant in the future.

Storm Damage, Norfolk

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make payments of grant to local authorities in Norfolk to compensate them for emergency work undertaken as a result of damage caused by the storms on 20 and 21 February.

Yes. In the light of information provided by North Norfolk district council in April 1993, my right hon. and learned Friend is satisfied that special financial assistance would be justified in this case. Accordingly, the Secretary of State has decided, with the consent of the Treasury, to establish a scheme of assistance under section 155 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 in respect of expenditure relating to damage caused by the severe storms in Norfolk in February 1993. Grant will be paid to reimburse local authorities in Norfolk for 85 per cent. of eligible costs incurred above a threshold.

Home Department

Witness Protection

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to introduce a witness protection scheme; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend has no plans to introduce a national centrally funded witness protection scheme. Both the Metropolitan police and the Greater Manchester police already run witness protection programmes and will offer guidance and advice to other police forces. Decisions about the provisions of protection for witnesses are operational matters for the police.

Book Acquisition

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will acquire for his Library a book, the title of which has been supplied to him by the hon. Member for Linlithgow.

I have no plans to do so.

Probation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to encourage the development of similar schemes to the Mid Glamorgan straight thinking on probation programme in other areas of the United Kingdom.

All probation services are encouraged to provide, and to ensure that the courts which they serve are aware of, a range of effective supervision programmes for offenders sentenced to probation which are directed towards reduction of subsequent offending. The effectiveness of the STOP programme is currently being evaluated. The findings will be taken into account in further guidance that we give and by HM inspectorate of probation in the context of their work in promoting good practice.

Vice Squads

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police authorities maintain vice squads; and, of these, how many have sections specialising in pornography.

Fourteen police forces have police officers who are exclusively deployed to vice-related duties. The remaining forces undertake this work as part of general operational duties. Information on how many forces have sections specialising in pornography is not centrally held.

Sheehy Inquiry

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans there are for public consultation and debate, following the publication of the Sheehy inquiry into policing in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement.

My right hon. and learned Friend is arranging for the report of the inquiry into police responsibilities and rewards to be circulated to all interested bodies as soon as it is published. He will welcome comments from all those concerned on the report and the recommendations which are made by the inquiry team.

Rugeley Magistrates Court

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of prosecutions made before the Rugeley bench result in conviction.

At the Rugeley petty sessional division in 1991, 76 per cent of defendants prosecuted for all offences were found guilty by magistrates.

Compensation

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many people have applied for compensation for miscarriages of justice, under the provisions of the ex-gratia scheme of compensation referred to by a previous Home Secretary in an answer on 29 November 1985, Official Report, column 691, since the implementation of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 to the present time; how many have received compensation; and what is the aggregate amount of such payments to date;(2) how many people have applied for compensation under the provisions of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 since its implementation; how many have so far been compensated; and what is the total amount of compensation so far paid;(3) how many people have applied for compensation for miscarriages of justice under the ex-gratia scheme as outlined in an answer on 29 November 1985,

Official Report, column 691, and under the provisions of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988, since the implementation of the Act to the present time; how many have been compensated under (a) the ex-gratia scheme only, (b) under section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 only and (c) both; and what amounts of money have been paid to those persons in each of those categories.

Persons who applied for compensation for a miscarriage of justice do not normally say whether they are seeking to be compensated under statutory or under ex-gratia arrangements. All applications are, therefore, considered first to see whether they fall within the terms of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and, if not, whether an ex-gratia payment would be appropriate in the light of the criteria outlined in the answer given on 29 November 1985, column 691 by the right hon. Member for Witney (Mr. Hurd).Since the introduction of section 133 of the Criminal Justice Act 1988 in October 1988, 253 people have applied for the payment of compensation. Of those, 54 have received, or are receiving, compensation under section 133 of the 1988 Act; 16 have received, or are receiving, compensation under the ex-gratia arrangements; and the applications of 39 are still under consideration. No person has received compensation under both section 133 of the 1988 Act and the ex-gratia arrangements.The total amount of compensation paid between October 1988 and March 1993, was £3,428,000, of which £3,137,000 was paid in respect of awards made under section 133 of the 1988 Act. These figures include interim payments in some cases where the payment of compensation has been agreed, but the full amount of the award has yet to be determined.

Obscene Publications Act

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the paper which has recently been prepared by C4 division within his Department which deals with questions arising out of the Obscene Publications Act and its enforcement.

I do not know to what document the hon. Member may be referring. My Department is currently examining ways in which the enforcement of laws dealing with obscenity may be improved. It is not the practice to publish advice to Ministers.

Emergency Fire Service

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department where the vehicles of the emergency fire service are based; how many vehicles are based there; when they were last used operationally; what level of maintenance they are receiving; and what is the average age of such vehicles.

The emergency fire service stockpile is located at Marchington, near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire. It consists of 1,078 Bedford self-propelled pumps—Green Goddesses—103 Austin Gypsies and 38 Land Rovers together with other ancillary equipment. The last major operational use of the stockpile was during the national fire service industrial dispute of 1977–78 although small numbers have been deployed more recently to augment local resources during adverse weather conditions. The vehicles, which are between 30 and 40 years of age, are regularly serviced to ensure that they remain in a fully operational condition.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

We do not keep a central record of the number of questions answered either wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost.

If we tried to answer the hon. Member's question it would, therefore, involve an exercise of checking through some 6,000 parliamentary questions. This would in itself entail costs to the taxpayer out of all proportion to the significance of the question.

Children

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list his Department's specific areas of responsibility on children's matters.

The Home Office is responsible for: General policy on young offenders;:

The provision and administration of attendance centres for children and young persons;
The law on child prostitution, child abduction, child pornography and children's evidence in court;
Disclosure policy in relation to people working with children;
Placement, regimes and sentence planning for 15 to 17-year-olds ordered to be detained in young offender institutions or under section 53 of the Children and Young Persons Act.

In addition, my Department has general responsibilities for the police, immigration and prison services all of which may have a youth dimension.

Emergency Planning Grant

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of the existing emergency planning grant aid from his Department for 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 to enable the recipient authorities to discharge fully the duties imposed on them by proposals currently being considered by his Department;(2) what assessment he has made of the sufficiency of the proposed distribution of his Department's emergency planning grant aid for 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 to enable the shortcomings in emergency arrangements outlined in his predecessor's statement of 10 July 1991,

Official Report, columns 393–96, to be remedied.

My right hon. and learned Friend is satisfied that the proposed allocations of grant aid will be sufficient once many of the new obsolete civil defence duties are removed from local authorities by draft Civil Defence (General Local Authority Functions) Regulations to be laid before Parliament.The Home Office proposals involve a small shift in the balance of resources to metropolitan areas and for grant to be paid to metropolitan districts and boroughs for the first time. These measures are intended to assist metropolitan authorities in overcoming the problems in some areas referred to by the then Home Secretary in his statement of 10 July 1991.

Metropolitan areas
	1993–94		1994–95		1995–96
	FCDA¹	Districts	FCDA¹	Districts	FCDA¹	Districts
Greater Manchester	441	350	224	350	224	350
London	1,503	1,155	546	1,155	546	1,155
Merseyside	532	175	154	175	154	175
South Yorkshire	442	140	140	140	140	140
Tyne and Wear	402	175	154	175	154	175
West Midlands	403	245	182	245	182	245
West Yorkshire	373	175	154	175	154	175
¹ Fire and Civil Defence Authorities

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list by county council and civil defence authority area the proposed distribution of his Department's civil defence and emergency planning grant aid for each of the three years 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96.

The proposed distribution of grant to each authority in the three years 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96 is as follows.

County councils
£'000s
	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96
Avon	300	224	224
Bedfordshire	220	196	196
Berkshire	419	224	224
Buckinghamshire	367	210	210
Cambridgeshire	358	224	224
Cheshire	419	252	252
Cleveland	211	196	196
Cornwall	300	224	224
Cumbria	350	224	224
Derbyshire	241	266	266
Devon	577	280	280
Dorset	338	252	252
Durham	221	252	252
East Sussex	329	238	238
Essex	446	336	336
Gloucestershire	250	224	224
Hampshire	347	322	322
Hereford and Worcester	255	266	266
Hertfordshire	461	280	280
Humberside	297	266	266
Isle of Wight	262	168	168
Kent	522	336	336
Lancashire	278	336	336
Leicestershire	186	266	266
Lincolnshire	296	238	238
Norfolk	428	238	238
Northamptonshire	243	238	238
Northumbria	239	224	224
North Yorkshire	312	252	252
Nottinghamshire	275	252	252
Oxfordshire	367	210	210
Shropshire	229	224	224
Somerset	306	210	210
Staffordshire	273	266	266
Suffolk	314	238	238
Surrey	369	294	294
Warwickshire	312	210	210
West Sussex	296	238	238
Wiltshire	307	210	210
Clwyd	308	224	224
Dyfed	250	224	224
Gwent	294	210	210
Gwynedd	242	210	210
Mid Glamorgan	257	224	224
Powys	155	182	182
South Glamorgan	175	168	168
West Glamorgan	186	196	196

The date on which the regulations come into force may have an effect on these figures.

An alternative proposal put forward by the Association of Metropolitan Authorities for the allocation of available grant between fire and civil defence authorities is being considered.

Factory Fires

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of major fires in factories there have been in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

The following table gives the available information on fires in factory buildings attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom.

Fires¹ in factory buildings² attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom. 1987–91
Year	Number
1987	6,177
1988	6,471
1989	6,540
1990	6,155
1991	5,480
¹Source: Home Office Fire Statistics, based on reports from local authority fire brigades.
² Factories defined according to the Standard Industrial Classification, Divisions 2–4 of the 1980 classification published by HMSO (1979).

Unit Fines

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has given clerks of courts in using discretion on unit fines; what steps he is taking to see that guidance is being followed; and if he will make a statement.

Guidance on the assessment of disposable weekly income, which is a judicial function, describing the powers available under the unit fine scheme, was issued to the chairmen of each magistrates court bench and to all clerks to the justices under cover of a Home Office letter dated 31 July 1992. Following a meeting with my right hon. and learned Friend on 4 May, the Magistrates Association issued a bulletin to its members dated the same day encouraging maximum use of existing discretion. It is not for my right hon. and learned Friend to advise magistrates on how they should exercise discretion within the law: that is entirely and properly a matter For the courts.

Car Theft

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cars were reported stolen in England in 1978 and in 1992.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: The information available relates to offences of theft or unauthorised taking of motor vehicles recorded by the police. There were 301,793 such offences in England in 1978 and 556,315 in 1992.

Rape

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many rapes were reported for the years 1991 and 1992 by males aged (a) 14 years, (b) 15 years, (c) 16 years, (d) 17 years and (e) 18 years.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: Information held centrally relates to the number of "known offenders" —those found guilty of, or cautioned. Information for 1990 and 1991 is given in the table. 1992 data will not be available until the autumn.

Number of males found guilty at all courts or cautioned for offences of rape by age England and Wales 1990–91
Year	Age 14	Age 15	Age 16	Age 17	Age 18
1990
Found guilty	1	17	17	15	25
Cautioned	3	3	2	—	—
Total found guilty or cautioned	4	20	19	15	25
1991
Found guilty	3	4	10	15	18
Cautioned	2	2	4	2	1
Total found guilty or cautioned	5	6	14	17	19

Television Licences

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been convicted in each year since 1987 for not possessing a television licence.

[holding answer 14 May 1993]: Information supplied by the National Television Licence Records Office is given in the table.

Offenders found guilty of television licence fee evasion England and Wales
Financial year	Found guilty
1986–87	164,708
1987–88	150,381
1988–89	162,710
1989–90	160,055
1990–91	168,066
1991–92	192,951
1992–93	210,002

Prison Staff

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) Indian, (b) Pakistani, (c) Bangladeshi and (d) Afro-Caribbean people respectively were prison custody officers and governor grade in March; and what proportion in each case were (i) men and (ii) women.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the director general of the prison service. I have asked him to send a reply as quickly as possible.

Letter from Derek Lewis to Ms Joan Ruddock, dated 7 May 1993:

I am writing to supply the further information promised in Mr. Lloyd's reply of 14 April to your Question about the ethnic background of Prison Service staff.

As our statement of Purpose, Vision, Goals and Values makes clear, equality of opportunity is central to the work of the Prison Service. We are committed to ethnic monitoring as a means of measuring whether our policies are achieving greater equality of opportunity for all staff are having any effect. We need to be able to measure whether all staff have equal access to opportunities for promotion, training and career development and, to do this, we first need to create a comprehensive database of staff ethnic backgrounds. The first stage of this process was a voluntary survey of all staff in the non-industrial grades in directly managed prisons. Initially, our database held records of the ethnic origins of only 43‥ of staff and now, after the voluntary survey, that figure has risen to 74‥. Over the next few months we shall be taking further steps to fill the gaps in our database.

The table below is drawn from the results of that voluntary survey. It sets out the numbers of staff in the unified (prison officer, senior officer and principal officer) and governor grades in directly managed prisons and have recorded their ethnic origin as other than white. The categories shown are those used in the survey.

	Unified grades		Governor grades
	Male	Female	Male	Female
Caribbean	67	30	0	0
African	39	9	0	0
Black of other origin	32	2	1	0
Indian	40	2	1	0
Pakistani	12	1	1	0
Bangladeshi	18	0	0	0
East African	9	0	0	0
Chinese	10	2	1	0
Asian of other origin	15	2	0	0
Other ethnic groups	92	5	1	0
Total staff recording their ethnic origin as other than white	334	53	5	0
Total staff in grade	20,568	1,979	903	90

You will see that there are five members of the governor grades who have recorded their ethnic origins as other than white. I am aware that, in response to an earlier Parliamentary Question, you were informed that there were no staff in the governor grades who had recorded their ethnic origins as other than white. This was due to an error on our computer records, which has now been corrected.

In the contracted sector, I understand that at Wolds Prison, there are two prison custody officers from the ethnic minorities; one female prison custody officer who is, according to the categories used in our survey, Asian of other origin and one male prison custody officer who is of another ethnic group.

Lowdham Grange

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the current plans for the former young prisoners' establishment at Lowdham Grange; what planning applications have been made; and what timetable he has in mind for disposal of this property.

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 Derek Lewis to Mr. Paddy Tipping, dated 17 May 1993:

HMYOI Lowdham Grange

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the Prison Service's plans for the site of the former young offender institution at Lowdham Grange.

As you no doubt know, the establishment is no longer used for prison purposes and we have no plans to again use it as such. The Closure Order giving effect to this decision was laid before the House on 24 November 1992 and came into force on 1 January 1993.

We have, however, appointed an agent to manage the sale of the site and have submitted an application to the local planning authority for several possible uses of it once sold. These include further residential development; a golf course; a gardening centre; provision for caravans; a public house; a rest home; rural crafts; an equestrian centre; shopping; a leisure complex or private school/offices; a village green; public open spaces; a health centre and a sports hall. Highways and environmental impact studies are now to be carried out at the request of the Newark and Sherwood District Council.

There have been several meetings with the District and Parish councils to consider the application and once the outcome of this is known the property will be put on the market. I am afraid it is too soon to say when this will be.

Prison Escort Service

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions prisoners escorted by Group 4 have been late for court; on how many occasions prisoners have been more than one, two or three hours late; and what representations have been received about this matter (a) from solicitors and barristers representing the prisoners concerned and (b) from others.

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. Paddy Tipping, dated 14 May 1993:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply directly to your Parliamentary Question about prisoners escorted by Group 4 being late for court.

In excess of 90 per cent. of prisoners handled by Group 4 in the first four weeks of operation arrived at court on time. This is despite the well-publicised difficulties of the first few days of their operation. In some cases, late delivery was due to difficulties beyond Group 4's control. The prisoner escort monitor will be discussing these cases in greater depth with the contractor over the coming weeks. Detail of how late prisoners arrived is not routinely collected.

Some representations have been received by the prisoner escort monitor from prisoners' legal advisers and others. At some courts the contracted time of delivery is earlier than the usual practice before the contractor began his operation, and thus those who need to see prisoners before their court appearance now have greater opportunity.

Blakenhurst Prison

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the budgeted annual cost per prisoner place at Her Majesty's prison Blakenhurst.

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 Ms. Joan Ruddock, dated 14 May 1993:

The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the budgeted annual cost per prisoner place at Her Majesty's Prison Blakenhurst. The annual budgeted cost per prisoner per place in the 1993–94 financial year is £16,000. This gives a weekly budgeted cost per place of £310 (excluding VAT).

Magistrates, London

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) men and (b) women of an ethnic minority background served as magistrates at courts in the Greater London area as of 1 May; and if he will give a breakdown of the representations at each of the magistrates courts in the Greater London area.

I have been asked to reply.Information on the ethnic origin of all serving magistrates is not currently available. In 1992, 31 appointments—12·5 per cent. of total—were made of members of the ethnic minority community in the inner and outer London commission areas. Of these appointments nine were women and 22 men. In 1991, 28 such appointments were made—14·3 per cent. of the total—of whom 10 were women and 18 men; in 1990, 37 such appointments were made—17·2 per cent. of the total—of whom 12 were women and 25 men.

Lord Chancellor's Department

Department's Annual Report (Sales)

40.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many copies of his Department's most recent annual report have been purchased.

All sales of the report are through HMSO bookshops. To date, 391 copies have been sold. A further 222 copies have been sold as part of complete sets of departmental reports.

Court Lists (Sale)

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to increase income from the sale of magistrates and other court lists.

None. Charges made by magistrates courts to cover the costs of providing court lists for the news media are a matter for local magistrates' courts committees.

Immigration Tribunals

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many individuals sought appeals in (a) the immigration tribunals and (b) the immigration appeals tribunals, in the last year for which figures are available; and what were the results of these appeals.

The information requested was as follows during the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1993:

	Appeals
	(a) Adjudicators	(b) Immigration¹ Appeal Tribunal
Received²	25,594	1,098
Allowed	4,302	267
Dismissed	22,272	525
Withdrawn	6,660	141

¹ Complete figures are not available for appeals allowed, dismissed and withdrawn. The figures given are estimates based on average returns for June 1992 to January 1993.

² The number of appeals received does not equal those allowed, dismissed or withdrawn as the latter categories include appeals that were received before 1 April 1992 and determined during 1992–93.

Court Cases

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many cases were outstanding at the Crown court at the end of each of the last 10 years.

The table shows the number of outstanding cases for trial at the end of each year since 1983. The 1992 figure is provisional and liable to revision to take account of any late amendments.

Crown Court: Committals for Trial Number of Outstanding cases for Trial 1983–1992
	Number
1983	21,755
1984	22,036
1985	23,247
1986	21,619
1987	24,235
1988	25,941
1989	23,815
1990	26,715
1991	29,420
1992	29,186

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many Crown court cases were (a) received, (b) finalised, (c) tried, (d) not proceeded with or (e) otherwise disposed of in each of the last 10 years.

The table shows the total number of cases received at the Crown court for trial, the total number dealt with and a breakdown of how they were disposed of, during each year since 1983. Figures for 1992 are provisional and liable to change to take account of any late amendments.

Crown Court: Committals for Trial Receipts and Disposals: 1983–1992
	Receipts		Disposals
		Total	Guilty pleas	Trials	Other¹
1983	73,524	72,567	41,234	25,744	5,589
1984	75,283	74,777	44,075	25,033	5,669
1985	83,898	82,788	50,099	26,004	6,685
1986	84,244	86,426	50,465	28,216	7,745
1987	98,873	96,197	59,218	28,006	8,973
1988	106,524	104,773	68,389	26,820	9,564
1989	98,668	101,232	64,570	26,830	9,832
1990	103,011	100,005	63,588	26,177	10,240
1991	104,754	101,999	62,591	27,608	11,800
1992	100,994	100,723	58,268	26,449	16,006
¹ ie Bench Warrant issued, No Plea Recorded, Indictment to Lie on File, Found Unfit to Plead, etc.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many cases heard by (a) the magistrates court and (b) the Crown court resulted in (i) convictions and (ii) dismissals for the last 10 years.

The only available information for magistrates courts is set out in table 1 showing the total number of defendants proceeded against for all offences and where the case was withdrawn or dismissed or resulted in a conviction, for each year 1983 to 1991. Table 2 shows the total numbers of defendants acquitted and convicted following trials in the Crown court for each year since 1983. The 1992 figures are provisional and liable to revision to take account of late amendments.

Table 1 Magistrates' Courts: Trials Number of defendants proceeded against for all offences¹ where the case was withdrawn²/dismissed³ or resulted in a conviction⁴
Year	Withdrawn/ Dismissed	Convicted
1983	162,395	2,022,646
1984	177,183	1,888,329
1985	193,507	1,828,870
1986	236,921	1,814,719
1987	226,669	1,468,435
1988	240,562	1,464,287
1989	263,372	1,448,913
1990	295,106	1,431,394
1991	347,190	1,424,226
¹ Includes indictable (including either way) and summary (including motoring) offences.
² No evidence offered, not proceeded against or charge withdrawn.
³ After hearing the evidence, the court found the defendant not guilty.
⁴ Includes defendants who pleaded guilty.

Table 2 Crown Court: Committals for Trial Results of trials following a plea of Not Guilty to all counts
	Defendants
	Total	Acquitted	Convicted
1983	33,397	15,938	17,459
1984	32,290	15,962	16,328
1985	33,096	16,641	17,265
1986	36,058	17,667	18,391
1987	31,305	15,560	15,475
1988	32,049	17,542	14,507
1989	31,344	17,517	13,827
1990	29,993	17,241	12,752
1991	30,533	17,760	12,773
1992	27,784	15,534	12,250

Church Commissioners

Incumbents (Church Property)

28.

To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, in what circumstances the incumbent of a parish who ceases to be a priest in the Church of England may continue to occupy church property.

Generally speaking, the freehold of a parsonage and church are vested in the incumbent in right of his office. If he ceased to hold the office, he would cease to have an interest in, or right to occupy, those properties.

Insurance (Central London)

To ask the right hon. Member for Selby, as representing the Church Commissioners, what plans the Church Commissioners have to assist dioceses and churches in central London with the costs of insurance.

The Commissioners' primary responsibility is the financial support of the clergy. With this in mind, they operate concessionary car and home contents insurance schemes jointly with the Ecclesiastical Insurance Office. These schemes provide additional assistance for clergy in inner city parishes. Responsibility for insuring church buildings rests with the parochial church council.

Social Security

Unemployment Benefit

169.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he has any plans to raise the disregard level of earnings per day, over which an unemployed person would lose entitlement to benefit.

Unemployment benefit is not normally paid for any day on which a person earns more than £2. We have no plans to increase this daily earnings limit.

Mortgage Interest

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what are the most recent figures available for the payment of mortgage interest on behalf of claimants to his Department.

The latest estimate is in the table.

1991
	Number
Number of cases with full mortgage interest included in the assessment	337,000
Number of cases with half mortgage interest included in the assessment	74,000
Total number of cases with mortgage interest included in the assessment	411,000

Source: Income Support Statisticcs Annual Enquiry, May 1991.

Notes:

1. Figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.

2. The estimates for 1992 will be entered in the 1992 Annual Statistical Enquiry which will be published on 24 May 1993, as announced in the CSO news release issued on 30 April 1993. A copy will be placed in the Library.

Agencies (Letters)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 5 May, Official Report, column 162, in how many cases drafts of letters from chief executives of agencies within his responsibility have been amended by the agencies as a result of the drafts being submitted to Ministers before being sent to the Members to whom they are addressed.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security on what dates drafts of the letters from the chief executive of the Benefits Agency to the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton (Mr. Kaufman), dated 4 May, to the hon. Member for Delyn (Mr. Hanson), dated 5 May 1993, and to the hon. Member for Wakefield (Mr. Hinchliffe), dated 4 May, published in the Official Report, on 5 May, columns 159–60 and 162–63 were sent to Ministers; and in what respect the letters sent to the right hon. and hon. Members differed from the drafts.

Drafts of the four letters in question were sent to Minister for information on 30 April. I understand that on two of the letters the chief executive of the benefits Agency made some presentational amendments before issue to the right hon. And hon. Members.

Benefits (Sexual Discrimination)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will list the different instances of discrimination between men and women for social security benefit purposes; and to what extent each instance is necessarily linked to the difference in retirement ages;

Benefit	Issue	Women	Men
Unemployment Benefit	Maximum age for receipt	Age 65	Age 70
	Age at which benefit rate changes to retirement pension rate	Age 60	Age 65
Sickness Benefit	Maximum age for receipt	Age 65	Age 70
	Age at which benefit rate changes to retirement pension basis	Age 60	Age 65
Invalidity Benefit	Maximum age of receipt	Age 65	Age 70
	Age at which benefit rate changes to retirement pension rate	Age 60	Age 65
Invalidity Allowance and Invalidity Addition to Retirement Pension	Maximum age for onset of incapacity for acquiring entitlement to lower rate	Below age 55	Below age 60
State Maternity Allowance, Statutory Maternity Pay, Social Fund Payments to meet Maternity Expenses	Conditions of Entitlement	Entitlement where statutory conditions satisfied	No entitlement in respect of paternity
Widows Payment, Widowed Mothers Allowance, Widows Pension	Condition of Entitlement	Entitlement where statutory conditions satisfied	No equivalent entitlement for widowers
Category A Retirement Pension	Minimum age of Entitlement	Age 60	Age 65
	Maximum age until which an individual may defer pension to receive increments	Age 65	Age 70
	Working life for calculation of pension rate	44 years	49 years
Category B Retirement Pension	Conditions of Entitlement	Age 60 and over and (i) Married at 60 to husband who is entitled to Category A Retirement Pension, or	Aged 65 and over and widowed over 65, late wife was over 60 when she died and satisfied conditions for Category A Retirement
		(ii) Married after age 60 to husband who is entitled to Category A Retirement pension, or	Pension
		(iii) Widowed after age 60 and late husband satisfied contribution condition for Category A Retirement pension, or
		(iv) Widowed before aged 60 and entitled to Widow's Pensions in consequence of late husband's death
Graduated Retirement Benefit	Minimum age of Entitlement	Age 60	Age 65
	Amount of Graduated Contributions paid to obtain one Graduated Retirement Benefit Unit	£9·00	£7·50

(2) what plans he has to change the rules relating to men and women's rights to defer entitlement to a retirement pension so that there is no discrimination between sexes; and what account he is taking of the decision of the social security appeal tribunal in Birkenhead on 6 April relating to the link between retirement ages and discrimination.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to him 0n 22 April at cols 239–40. The different instances of discrimination are as follows:

Benefit	Issue	Women	Men
Severe Disablement Allowance¹	Upper age for establishing entitlement	Age 60	Age 65
	Age at which payment can continue if the normal rules are no longer satisfied	Age 65	Age 70
Invalid Care Allowance¹	Upper age for establishing entitlement	Age 60	Age 65
	Age at which payment can continue if the normal entitlement rules are no longer satisfied	Age 65	Age 70
Reduced Earnings Allowance (not payable in respect of industrial injuries on and from 1 October 1990)	Transfer to Retirement Allowance, if claimant has given up regular employment	Age 60 (except women 60 and over on 10 April 1989)	Age 65 (except men 65 and over on 10 April 1989)
Income of Unemployment and Sickness Benefit for Child Dependant	Claimant's age for entitlement	Age 60 to 65	Age 65 to 70
Income of Category A Retirement Pension for Adult Dependant	Entitlement for spouse where pensioner residing with spouse on contributing to maintenance of spouse subject to earnings maximum	Increase for husband only if pensioner was entitled to an increase of Unemployment, Sickness or Invalidity Benefit immediately before commencement of Retirement Pension Entitlement	No additional condition for increase for wife
Child Benefit	Priority of Title	Wife or Mother has priority over Husband or Father where it is necessary to decide Priority
Guardian's Allowance	Priority of Title	Wife has priority over Husband where it is necessary to determine Priority
Income Support, Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit	Higher Pensioner Premium dependent upon Entitlement to Invalidity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance	Subject to conditions for Entitlement to these Benefits (see above)
	Carer Premium dependent upon Entitlement or underlying Entitlement to Invalid Care Allowance	Subject to conditions for Entitlement to Invalid Care Allowance (see above)
Income Support	Payability between ages 60 and 65 for claimants with no other income	Paid in advance	Paid in arrears
	Disentitlement to students on full-time course of study	Disentitlement ceases at age 60	Disentitlement ceases at age 65
¹ Following the Court of Appeal's decision in Thomas and others the Secretary of State appealed to the House of Lords. A doubt existed as to the Secretary of State's power to suspend benefit. It was conceded that until a final decision was made on the cases, women claimants should be paid Severe Disablement Allowance and Invalid Care Allowance on the same basis as men. The European Court has now ruled on the substantive issues and has remitted the case back to the House of Lords for final determination.

Invalidity Benefit

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many people have lost their entitlement to invalidity benefit since the recent changes in the guidance from the chief adjudication officer to adjudication officers; and what the figures for entitlement for a comparable period were in each of the last five years.

Information is not yet available. Comparisons with earlier are not possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what changes there have been in recent months in the guidance from the chief adjudication officer to adjudication officers in relation to procedures for the review of invalidity benefit entitlement; who instigated this change; and if he will make a statement.

I understand that the independent chief adjudication officer has issued guidance this year on the effects of the Social Security Commissioner's decision in cases CS 27/91 and the effects of the revised incapacity benefit medical control procedures which were introduced by the Department and took full effect from 1 April 1993.

Disability Living Allowance

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what procedure he adopts to alter the eligibility criteria used for processing applications for the higher rate mobility component of the disability living allowance; and what system is used to ensure that the criteria are regularly reviewed.

The eligibility criteria for the higher rate mobility component of disability living allowance are set out in legislation. Any changes to these criteria are made through the legislative process.We review the criteria regularly in the light of information obtained from the management information system and representations received from disability organisations and members of the public.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has received on conditions excluded by the definition of severe mental impairment as a state of arrested development or incomplete physical development of the brain, as used in the processing of applications for the higher rate mobility component of the disability living allowance.

We have received no such representations recently.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will alter the eligibility criteria for the higher rate mobility component of the disability living allowance to include people with a severe mental impairment, other than those who suffer from a state of arrested development or incomplete physical development of the brain from birth.

We have no plans to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many Alzheimer's sufferers have applied for the higher rate mobility component of the disability living allowance; and how many have been refused.

The information is not available.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

The information is in the table.

	Number of PQs	Disproportionate cost replies	Percentage
November 1991	312	14	4
December 1991	255	4	2
January 1992	219	14	6
February 1992	272	12	4
March 1992	211	5	2
April 1992	—	—	—
May 1992	167	1	0·5

	Number of PQs	Disproportionate cost replies	Percentage
June 1992	378	13	3
July 1992	361	11	3
August 1992	—	—	—
September 1992	—	—	—
October 1992	263	7	3
November 1992	326	8	2
December 1992	162	3	2
Janaury 1993	279	14	5
February 1993	209	9	4
March 1993	292	12	4
April 1993	200	7	3
Total	3,906	134	3

Income Support (Under-25S)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much it would cost to provide the rate of income support paid to those aged over 25 years to all those aged over 21 years; and if he will consider doing so.

[holding answer 10 May 1993]: It is estimated that this would cost £140 million. This includes housing benefit and council tax benefit costs. We have no plans to change the existing arrangements.(Modelled at 1993–94 prices and benefit levels using data drawn from the 1989–90–91 Family Expenditure Surveys and the Income Support Statistics Annual Enquiry 1991.)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how much it would cost to provide the adult, over 25 years of age, rate of income support to all those aged 18 to 24 years who live in independent accommodation away from their parents; and if he will consider doing so.

[holding answer 10 May 1993]: The estimated cost is £110 million in a full year. We have no plans to change the existing arrangements.For the purposes of this reply, people living in "independent accommodation" have been defined as those who are classified in the family expenditure survey as

(a) heads of households and (b) not related to the head of household.

Notes:

1. Modelled at 1993–94 prices and benefit levels using data drawn from the 1989–90–91 Family Expenditure Surveys.

2. Cost includes similar increases in Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit.

Local Offices, Manchester

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security which local government wards in the city of Manchester are covered by the Department of Social Security offices in (a) Clarence road, (b) Old lane and (c) Wilmslow road, Rusholme.

The administration of social security offices 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. Gerald Kaufman, dated 14 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 which local government wards in the city of Manchester are covered by the Department of Social Security offices in (a) Clarence Road, (b) Old Lane and (c) Wilmslow Road, Rusholme.

The information concerning local government wards has been confoirmed by the Chief Executive's Department at Manchester city Council. The information requested is appended.

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.

Benefits Agency Office and Ward

Longsight office:
Clarence Road
Levenshulme
Ardwick
Burnage (part)
Longsight (part)
Gorton South (part)
Openshaw office:
Old Lane
Gorton North
Beswick/Clayton
Bradford
Droylsden East
Droylsden West
Gorton South (part)
Rusholme office:
Wilmslow Road
Didsbury
Hulme (part)
Moss Side (part)
Burnage (part)
Old Moat (part)
Rusholme (part)
Longsight (part)
Fallowfield (part)
Withington (part)
Barlow Moor Road (part)

Defence

Weu And Nato

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to reduce the United Kingdom's current and planned defence expenditure on (a) the United Kingdom armed forces and (b) the United Kingdom's contribution to NATO to allow for United Kingdom expenditure on the WEU; and what account is taken of WEU expenditure in framing the United Kingdom's defence budget.

We have no such plans. Funding of WEU defence-related activities is taken into account in our annual expenditure plans.

Polaris

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average annual running costs of Polaris have been since it first entered service at 1992–93 prices and what items these costs include.

The average annual running cost of Polaris for 1991–92 and 1992–93 is estimated to be £180,000,000 at 1992–93 prices. This includes the costs of manpower; stores and spares; refits; and the in-service support of warheads, submarines and their weapons systems. The average annual running cost of Polaris since it first entered service could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Aldermaston

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current shortfall in staff at AWE Aldermaston in (a) the supervisory and AEC category, (b) the specialist category, (c) the industrials, craft category and (d) the non-industrials category.

Following the contractorisation of the Atomic Weapons Establishment on 1 April 1993 the question of staff numbers and any shortfalls is a matter for the operating contractor, Hunting-BRAE Ltd. However, the latest figures available to us in the categories specified are as follows:

	Numbers
Supervisory and AEC	28
Specialists	100
Craft Industrials	19
Non-Craft Industrials	21

Overall Aldermaston's staffing level is at over 96 per cent. of its nominal complement.

Royal Ordnance Plc, Birtley

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has for future orders of ammunition from the Royal Ordnance plc, Birtley; and what scope exists for bringing forward the placement of such orders.

Ammunition orders are let after competition wherever possible. Tenders are currently being evaluated for orders for tank ammunition and naval ammunition in which Royal Ordnance, Birtley has an interest. No other major orders which might involve work at Birtley are imminent. There is no scope for bringing forward orders, although as I announced to the House on 20 January, Official Report, col. 476, we intend to place a number of longer-term contracts for ammunition with the aim of helping industry to plan ahead with confidence. The tank ammunition order is an example of this.

Army Bands

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which Army units will in future have pipes and drums or bugles and drums; and what is the establishment of pipers, buglers and drummers in each category.

I will write to my hon. Friend.

Western European Union And Nato

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the present and future expenditure implications of duplication of facilities and activities of the WEU and NATO.

The development of WEU as a means to strengthen the European pillar of Atlantic alliance will be based on the principle of complementarity between the facilities and activities of NATO and WEU so duplication should be avoided. In this context, WEU's Petersberg declaration of June 1992 made it clear that WEU would have no permanent forces or headquarters of its own.

Trident

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the average annual running costs of Trident.

The average annual running cost of Trident over its life is expected to be about £190,000,000, at 1992–93 prices. This includes the estimated costs of manpower; stores and spares; refits; and the in-service support of warheads, the submarines and their weapons systems. In addition it includes an allowance for decommissioning and disposal costs, and a share of the Clyde submarine base's operating costs.

Western European Union

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence out of what departmental budgets current United Kingdom contributions to the WEU come; and out of what departmental budgets they will come in future.

United Kingdom contributions to the WEU are currently funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, with my Department and the Department of Trade and Industry contributing to the United Kingdom's share of the WEU's current involvement in space-related activities. These arrangements remain subject to review.

Nuclear Weapon Transport Accidents

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his director of nuclear policy and security received a copy of the recent analysis of Ministry of Defence advice to civil authorities responding to nuclear weapon transport accidents, published by the nuclear free local authorities; and what plans he has to make a response to the report.

The document was received on 10 May 1993. Officials will consider it carefully and respond to it in due course.

Genetically Modified Organisms

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) whether any stocks of genetically modified organisms are currently held by his Department; and if he will make a statement;(2) whether any work by his Department is currently undertaken or is planned for the future which utilises techniques of genetic modification of organisms.

These are matters for the chief executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, who will write to my hon. Friend.

Letters from Graham Pearson to Mrs. Ann Winterton, dated 17 May 1993:

1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him whether any stocks of genetically modified organisms are currently held by his Department: and if he will make a statement (Question 8, Order Paper 12 May 1993) has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.

2. The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment is to carry out research to ensure that the United Kingdom Armed Forces are provided with effective protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. As part of the research programme to counter the threat from biological warfare it is necessary to use genetic methods of modifying organisms. This research work generates small quantities of genetically modified organisms using processes that are both time consuming and costly. It is for this reason that small samples of each genetically manipulated organism are stored in secure conditions that meet the requirements of the Health and Safety Executive so that they can be re-evaluated at a later stage should the need arise. Genetically modified organisms that do not exhibit properties of value to the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment research programme are destroyed.

3. In 1986 the then Chemical Defence Establishment was registered as a centre for genetic engineering with the Health and Safety Executive and all work with genetically manipulated organisms at the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment is carried out under the strict guidelines published by the Advisory Committee on Genetic Manipulation.

1. Your Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking him whether any work by his Department which is currently undertaken or is planned for the future utilises techniques of genetic manipulation of organisms (Question 13, Order Paper 12 May 1993) has been passed to me to reply as Chief Executive of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment.

2. The role of the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment is to carry our research to ensure that the United Kingdom Armed Forces are provided with effective protective measures against the threat that chemical or biological weapons may be used against them. In order to carry out this work, it is necessary to assess the threat to the United Kingdom Armed Forces from genetically modified organisms.

3. The Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment, Porton Down uses genetic methods of manipulation in its current research programme and has plans to do so in the future. The purpose of the research is to assess the biological warfare threat from genetically manipulated organisms and to produce effective protective measures including medical contermeasures against their use. The results of this work is usually published in the scientific literature.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy on preventing the development, both nationally and internationally, of genetically modified viruses or other agents as weapons of war.

The Biological Weapons Act 1974 prohibits the development, production, acquisition and possession of any biological agent or toxin of a type and in a quantity which has no justification for prophylactic, protective or other peaceful purposes. This Act implemented the United Kingdom national obligation to enforce the biological and toxin weapons convention. The Export of Goods (Control) Order 1992 introduced controls on the export of specific biological materials and certain human and animal pathogens which could be misused for weapons purposes. Both Acts and the convention apply equally to all microbial or other biological agents whether natural, enhanced or modified.It is our intention to continue to contribute to international efforts to prevent the development or acquisition of biological and toxin weapons by potential proliferators, specifically, to pursue the strengthening of the implementation of the biological and toxin weapons convention and to build on the existing international controls on the export of dual-use equipment and disease causing micro-organisms.

Book Supply

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will obtain for his departmental library a copy of the book the title of which has been supplied to him.

A copy of the book is on order for the stock of Ministry of Defence Headquarters Library.

Abbey Wood Offices

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total anticipated cost of the Abbey Wood Office complex at Filton, Bristol; what sis the expected occupancy and the expected date of occupation; and how much has been spent so far on the construction of the complex.

The estimated words cost of the new procurement executive headquarters at Abbey Wood, North Bristol, inclusive of site acquisition, construction, fitting out, professional works management and VAT is £255·4 million at 1993–94 prices. Within this sum £35·2 million has been spent to date on site acquisition, management, and preparatory works with a further £1·04 million contractually committed.The new site is being designed to accommodate some 4,800 procurement executive staff, together with service logistic support experts and other personnel, giving a total site population of 5,500. Occupancy is planned to start in autumn 1995 and complete by autumn 1996.When completed in 1996, collocation at Abbey Wood will produce running cost savings amounting to some £40 million a year; it is also a key element in our strategy to reduce PE HQ manpower by 25 per cent., yielding further savings of about £35 million a year.

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in respect of how many parliamentary questions a substantive answer was not provided by his Department wholly or partly on the ground of disproportionate cost in each of the last 18 months (a) in total and (b) as a proportion of questions answered.

This is a matter of public record.

Asbestos Exposure

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the information available on claims made by members and former members of the armed forces for compensation as a result of asbestos exposure.

About 50 claims have been received relating to alleged exposure of service personnel to asbestos, dating back to the 1930s.

Bosnia

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many cases there have been of United Kingdom military aircraft breaking the sound barrier over Bosnia-Herzegovina; what is the purpose of such a practice; and what information he has of damage being caused to civilian property.

None.

Nuclear Test Ban

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if Her Majesty's Government will now declare a moratorium on testing nuclear warheads with a view in the medium term to a comprehensive test ban treaty on nuclear weapons.

There is of course no question of our conducting further nuclear tests at Nevada while the current US moratorium remains in force. But the Government believe that progress towards a comprehensive test ban should be made on a negotiated and verifiable basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress he has made in the negotiation of a comprehensive test ban treaty.

I have been asked to reply.No negotiations for such a treaty are now in progress.

Volume 225: debated on Monday 17 May 1993

Written Answers To Questions

Transport

Buses

Aircraft Security

Bus Services, London

Privilege Rail Tickets

Bus Operators

Robin Hood Line

Taxis

Parliamentary Questions

Third Thames Crossing

Oxleas Wood

M6

Attorney-General

Crown Prosecution Service

National Finance

Profit-Related Pay

Self-Employed People

Rugby Football

Water Expenditure

Parliamentary Questions

Overseas Contracts

Inland Revenue Solicitor

Petrol Tax

National Heritage

Drama Funding

Marble Hill Park

Arts Subsidies

Overseas Development

Un Conference On Environment And Development

Africa (Aid)

Sub-Saharan Africa

Mozambique

South Africa

China

Overseas Aid

Belize

Education

Data Protection

Select Committee Recommendations

Special Educational Needs

Youth Service

Pre-School Play Groups

Class Sizes

Student Loans

Testing

Parliamentary Questions

Epileptic Students

House Of Commons

Garage (Car Removal)

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Genetically Modified Organisms

Animal Exports

Iacs Forms

Parliamentary Questions

Milk Marketing Board

Granite Imports

Health

Health Authority Budgets

Maternity Services

Junior Doctors

Hiv

Maternal Mortality

Hay Fever

Nhs Trusts

Diptheria

Blood Donors

Research

Mental Health Act

Parliamentary Questions

Pharmacists

Tuberculosis Vaccination

Overseas Contracts

Jeremiah Kearney

Manic Depression

Comfrey

Pharmacies

Public Telephones