To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received about the time limit for bringing actions applicable to those seeking to make claims arising from the ingestion of benzodiazepine tranquillisers.

A number of representations I have received on the subject have touched on the question of time limits, among other issues. Time limits are, of course, a matter for the court.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what recent representations he has received on the progress of the benzodiazepine tranquillisers claims;(2) what recent representations he has received on the decisions of the Legal Aid Board in relation to the availability of legal aid in pursuit of claims arising from the use of benzodiazepine tranquillisers.

I have received 70 some representations in the last three months, encompassing various aspects of this litigation.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether he intends to meet the Legal Aid Advisory Committee on the question of (a) class actions and (b) claims arising out of the use of benzodiazepine tranquillisers.

The Lord Chancellor and I are always interested to hear the views of the Legal Aid Advisory Committee on matters which it wished to draw to our attention. The Legal Aid Advisory Committee, however, has no role in respect of the handling of individual cases or groups of cases, which is entirely a matter for the Legal Aid Board.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department whether the Lord Chancellor has referred to the Supreme Court rules committee the question of procedures for the handling of multiple claims.

The Lord Chancellor has not referred to the Supreme Court rules committee the question of procedures for the handling of multiple claims. However, the Supreme Court procedure committee has considered this issue and in May 1991 published a "Guide for Use in Group Actions". Copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will give a breakdown of the legal aid bill under the different categories of work categories for which information is kept including a separate total for divorce and matrimonial expenditure; and if he will give comparable figures for (a) 10 and (b) 15 years ago.

Net expenditure in each main category of work was as follows:

	1977–78 £ million	1982–83 £ million	1992–93 £ million
All Civil	24	68	463
Criminal Higher	22	52	220
Criminal Magistrates'	20	55	197
Green Form	6	31	119
ABWOR1	n/a	8	22
Duty Solicitor Schemes2	n/a	n/a	72
TOTAL EXPENDITURE	72	214	1,093

It is not possible to give separate net expenditure figures for civil non-matrimonial and civil matrimonial. It is, however, possible to give separate figures in respect of gross expenditure, which are as follows:

	1977–78 £ million	1982–83 £ million	1992–93 £ million
Non-matrimonial	10	38	353
Matrimonial	24	50	183

(All figures have been rounded to nearest £ million)

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he intends to consult the public in respect of the proposed Greater Manchester western and northern relief road, section M62 to M66.

In September.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the current position in respect of the loan by the European investment bank for the construction of the Jubilee line.

I understand that arrangements for the European investment bank to fund the initial payment by the O and Y company towards its contribution to the cost of the Jubilee line extension are in place, ready to operate once my right hon. Friend can approve the funding agreement and give the go-ahead to construction.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) of 7 July, Official Report, columns 158–59, on the east London river crossing, what are the implications of his announcement for the line order, the compulsory purchase orders and the exchange land certificate in relation to the proposed crossing; and if he will make a statement.

The extent to which the existing line order will need to be varied or revoked will depend on the new proposals which we shall bring forward in due course. We shall not take any action to implement the present compulsory purchase orders, which will cease to be valid in November 1994. The exchange land certificate will accordingly become redundant.

Personal injury accidents per million vehicle kilometres, by road type England and Wales 1985–1992
Rales per million vehicle kilometres
	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	41992
England
Motorway1	0·122	0·127	0·110	0·104	0·108	0·109	0·104	0·111
Trunk2	0·379	0·443	0·323	0·400	0·377	0·366	0·321	—
Minor3	—	—	—	—	0·859	0·858	0·800	—
Wales
Motorway1	0·117	0·104	0·096	0·109	0·110	0·116	0·103	0·092
Trunk2	0·368	0·394	0·392	0·360	0·355	0·354	0·334	—
Minor3	—	—	—	—	0·537	0·608	0·467	—
1 Motorways plus A(M) roads. These are mostly trunk roads but include a few principal roads for which county councils are the highway authority.
2 Trunk roads. Roads comprising the national network of through routes for which the Secretary of State is the highway authority, but excluding motorways which have been classified separately.
3 Minor roads. B, C and unclassified roads.
4 Traffic data for 1992 are provisional.

9 Accident rates per 100 million vehicle kilometres: by road class, region1 and severity: 1989–1991 average
Rate per 100 million vehicle kilometres
		A roads				All A roads	All main roads
		Built up		Non built up
	Mortorways	Trunk	Principal	Trunk	Principal
Northern
Fatal	0·5	1·2	1·8	1·0	1·2	1·3	1·3
Fatal or serious	2·1	9·3	17·5	4·9	8·4	10·1	9·4
All severities	15·1	70·3	92·3	20·7	35·0	48·5	45·8
Yorkshire and Humberside
Fatal	0·2	2·3	1·5	1·2	1·9	1·5	1·2
Fatal or serious	2·0	18·3	18·7	8·6	13·3	14·4	11·3
All severities	8·9	83·5	90·2	24·8	42·2	59·0	46·6
East Midlands
Fatal	0·3	1·8	1·6	1·6	1·9	1·7	1·5
Fatal or serious	2·9	18·0	18·2	8·3	12·9	12·8	10·9
All severities	12·6	90·2	98·5	28·6	44·8	55·0	47·0
Eastern
Fatal	0·3	1·6	1·2	1·0	1·5	1·2	1·0
Fatal or serious	2·2	18·5	16·4	6·2	10·9	10·5	8·3
All severities	11·9	86·2	87·7	21·7	39·7	45·2	36·2
South East
Fatal	0·3	1·4	1·0	0·8	1·4	1·1	0·9
Fatal or serious	2·3	14·6	15·4	5·0	10·0	10·3	8·0
All severities	10·3	74·8	81·8	19·6	38·8	47·7	37·0
London
Fatal	0·3	2·0	1·9	0·9	1·4	1·7	1·6
Fatal or serious	4·3	24·6	36·8	7·9	9·9	29·6	27·9
All severities	29·9	131·5	197·3	34·0	38·9	157·2	148·5

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will give the rate for personal injury accidents per million vehicle kilometres for England and Wales, for each year from 1985 to 1992 for (a) motorways, (b) dual carriageways, (c) trunk roads and (d) minor roads.

Personal injury accident rates for motorways and trunk roads in England and Wales are shown in the table. Accident rates for dual carriageways in England and Wales are not available. Figures for minor roads are shown for 1989 to 1991, but are not readily available for England and Wales for earlier years. Figures for trunk and minor roads are not yet available for 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list his estimates for traffic levels on each link of the M6 between junctions four and 11 for the years up until 2011, with and without the proposed Birmingham northern relief road.

The environmental statement for the toll road proposals published in June indicates that in 1996 and 2011 predicted flows—vehicles per day—on M6 could be about:

	Junction 10 A–11	Junction 8–9	Junction 6–7	East of Junction 4
1996
with BNRR	73,900	132,500	116,000	81,100
without BNRR	106,000	150,000	134,200	110,300
2011
with BNRR	102,500	146,200	131,700	117,300
without BNRR	145,500	180,700	167,600	161,800

A copy of the environmental statement will be placed in the House Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when it is proposed that the provisions of the passengers charter should apply to services operated in conjunction with passenger transport authorities.

It is for each passenger transport authority to consider whether and when to introduce a passengers charter for the rail services they specify and which are provided by British Rail on contract. I understand that the West Midlands PTA has authorised its PTE to introduce such a charter on 9 August, and that Merseyside PTE is well advanced with its preparation of a charter.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has of the number of lives saved every year by the use of rear seat belts in cars.

An estimated 140 lives were saved in 1992 by the use of rear seat belts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress is being made by his Department in technological methods of advancing road safety with particular reference to devices to prevent vehicles driving too close to each other; and if he will make a statement.

The Department's research programme aims to assess the safety related aspects of systems emerging from the European vehicle industry-led research programme, Prometheus, including autonomous intelligent cruise control (AICC). This system is intended to enhance driver convenience and comfort by automatically adjusting vehicle speed and following distance.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond), of 19 June 1992, Official Report, columns 7017–2, if he will publish a table showing the hoax fire calls for 1991 and 1992 on a similar basis to that given for 1987 to 1990.

The information for 1991 is shown in the following table; 1992 information is not yet available.

Percentage of total lire calls attended by local authority fire hi which the brigades believed to be malicious false alarms 1991
	Per cent.
United Kingdom	17·2
England	17·3
England—non·metropolitan	14·2
Avon	13·9
Bedfordshire	11·
Berkshire	13·8
Buckinghamshire	12·9
Cambridgeshire	14·1
Cheshire	11·9
Cleveland	33·4
Cornwall	7·3
Cumbria	13·4
Derbyshire	15·6
Devon	14·7
Dorset	12·3
Durham	24·4
East Sussex	11·3
Essex	15·5
Gloucestershire	14·5
Hampshire	7·1
Hereford and Worcestershire	14·0
Hertfordshire	10·4
Humberside	20·0
Isle of Wight	8·4
Kent	15·7
Lancashire	17·5
Leicestershire	17·8
Lincolnshire	14·9
Norfolk	8·8
North Yorkshire	7·6
Northamptonshire	9·2
Northumberland	13·4
Nottinghamshire	11·3
Oxfordshire	12·3
Shropshire	14·7
Somerset	12·2
Staffordshire	15·7

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the figures for drug seizures and offenders in the Birmingham metropolitan area for each month of 1993 up to the latest date available.

This information is not yet available. Information on seizures of controlled drugs in the United Kingdom and offenders dealt with during 1992 will be included in the annual Home Office statistical bulletin to be published in the autumn, a copy of which will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the percentage change (a) in the reported incidence in each category of crime and (b) in total for the Metropolitan police area between 1 April 1992 and 31 March 1993.

The information requested is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the number of residents' associations and similar bodies which have hired private security firms to protect their property in the Metropolitan police area.

Information of this kind is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he will set out his objectives in the privatising of DTELS.

The key objectives are:

1. To maximise sale proceeds consistent with preserving the best prospects for effective competition in the market for telecommunications support services for the emergency services.

2. To obtain reassurance that the purchaser should have the capacity to meet transferred liabilities and obligations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether he has yet received a copy of the first annual summary of activities from the Criminal Justice Consultative Council; and if he will make a statement.

I received an advance copy of the first summary of activities for the Criminal Justice Consultative Council from Lord Justice Farquharson on 25 June. It outlines the many important issues considered by the council during 1992, following its inception in January of that year, and includes a list of topics which council intends to include in its forthcoming agenda. The report also provides a brief summary of the activities of the area criminal justice liaison committees in the six months since they first met.The summary is being published today.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 will be brought into force.

Some provisions came into effect when the Bill received Royal Assent on 1 July. My right hon. and learned Friend has made a commencement order bringing all the remaining provisions of the Act into force on 26 July.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information is available to the Government on persons residing or working illegally in the United Kingdom; and from what sources the information is drawn.

Information about illegal entrants, overstayers and those working in breach of their immigration conditions may be available from records held by the immigration and nationality department. Those responsible for the enforcement of the immigration law also receive information from the police, for other Government Departments and agencies, and from members of the public.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the wider London impact of the road closures effected by the City of London corporal ion on security grounds.

Traffic congestion in Lower Thames street has extended beyond normal peak times. There has been no significant impact elsewhere.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many notices under the Immigration (Carriers' Liability) Act 1987 have been issued (a) in total since 1987 and (b) in each quarter since January; how much money has accrued as a result, how many such notices have been contested by airlines or shipping companies; and with what results.

As at 31 May 1993, 51,279 notices had been issued to carriers since the Act came into force, and total receipts stood at £25·06 million. The number of notices issued in each quarter since January 1992 was as follows:

Quarter ending	Numbers of notices
31 March 1992	1,954
30 June 1992	1,605
30 September 1992	2,355
31 December 1992	2,197
31 March 1993	1,608

A total of £7.91 million was received in payments during this period. Representations to local immigration service inspectors were made by carriers in 3,304 cases, and further representations to headquarters were made in 612 cases. A total of 1,296 charges were waived locally and 116 by headquarters during the same period.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times Home Office animals inspectors have visited the university of Glasgow since the Animals (Science Procedures) Act 1986 was passed; and what action, if any, arose from such inspections.

Between 1 January 1989 and 12 July 1993, 294 visits were made to the university of Glasgow. Each visit is likely to have involved visits to several individual university departments. Prior to 1989. departmental visits were counted separately: 232 such visits were made in the period 1 January 1987 to 31 December 1988.It is not the practice to give information about the findings and resultant actions, if any, arising from routine visits of inspection.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will request the Charity Commission to undertake an investigation into the Humana Charity, No. 297489, in respect (a) of its donations to the International Emergency Centre and (b) of its links with the Danish TVIND-DAPP organisation.

The Charity Commissioners are already investigating the activities of Humana in the light of matters identified during routine monitoring. The investigation will include any links which Humana may have with other charitable or non-charitable organisations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how long it took to return clothes and possessions to John Matthews after he left court on Tuesday 6 July; how long John Matthews was in custody; and if he will estimate the total cost of holding and transporting John Matthews.

At Paddington Green police station on 6 July Mr. Matthews refused to give his written authority to hand his property to his chosen nominee. The police are currently awaiting Mr. Matthews' authority to do so.Mr. Matthews was in custody from 27 April 1993 until his court appearance on 6 July. The estimated cost of holding and transporting him is £37,116.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many overseas visitors were initially refused leave to enter and removed from the United Kingdom in 1987 and in each subsequent calendar year to date; and what were their nationalities.

The total numbers of non-EC passengers by nationality who were refused leave to enter, and removed from, the United Kingdom in 1987–91 are published in table 1 of the annual Home Office Command Papers "Control of Immigration: Statistics, United Kingdom"—Cm. 415, 726, 1 124, 1571 and 2063 for each of the five years respectively—copies of which are held in the Library. Corresponding information for 1992 is given in table A. Information on EC nationals refused and removed in 1987–92 is given in table B. It is not possible from the information available centrally to ascertain how many of those refused leave to enter, and removed from, the United Kingdom had sought entry as visitors.

Table A
Non-EC nationals refused leave to enter, and removed from, the United Kingdom in 1992
Geographical region and nationality1	Number of persons
All nationalities excluding EC	14,722
Western Europe (excluding EC)	1,163
Austria	70
Cyprus	78
Finland	53
Malta	13
Norway	40
Sweden	122
Switzerland	67
Turkey	228
Former Yugoslavia	492
Eastern Europe	1,576
Bulgaria	28
Czechoslovakia	302
Hungary	145
Poland	855
Romania	86
Former USSR	160
Americas	2,886
Argentina	65
Barbados	34
Brazil	518

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action on malnutrition and infant mortality in Iraq he has taken since the meeting in the Foreign Office between the Under-Secretary responsible for the middle east and the hon. Member for Linlithgow on 22 June.

Since the meeting referred to, £1 million has been transferred through the United Nations escrow account to the World Food Programme (WFP) for purchasing part of the crop in the north of Iraq to help feed the Kurds. We have also agreed to finance a programme of water and sanitation work in schools in the south to he carried out by CARE. However, responsibility for the condition of the people in Iraq rests with Saddam Hussein. If the Iraqi Government would accept the conditions set out under United Nations Security Council resolutions 706 and 712, it could sell its oil and provide $1·6 billion worth of humanitarian aid for its people.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to increase aid to (i) Angola, (ii) Mozambique and (iii) Eritrea and Ethiopia.

We have committed £0·8 million of humanitarian aid to Angola this year and plan to increase this to £2 million if the security situation permits safe access for aid organisations. Three thousand tons of bilateral food aid has also been allocated. We will consider providing further assistance depending on the situation.We spent over £31 million in Mozambique in 1992–93. We also expect to spend significant sums this year but with a higher proportion of rehabilitation and longer term development activities than last year when the greater need was for drought relief.We plan to commit £10 million to bilateral projects in Ethiopia over the next two years, and £1 million to Eritrea.We shall continue to provide major contributions to these countries through our share of the development programmes of the multilateral agencies. In addition the EC Development Council on 25 May, agreed a resolution calling for the Community to implement an urgent rehabilitation programme of at least 100 mecu, drawn mainly from the European development fund, for certain African countries including Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Eritrea.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for further humanitarian relief to Sarajevo to address the severe shortage and possible disappearance of water supplies to the city.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees continues to make every effort to secure the passage of humanitarian supplies into Sarajevo, including fuel, in order to operate the pumps which are essential for the local water supply system.We are playing a major part in both the road-based relief convoys into Sarajevo and the airlift. But the continuing hostilities are inhibiting the passage of humanitarian supplies and we urge all of the parties to the conflict to allow these supplies to pass without hindrance or delay.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the activities funded from United Kingdom expenditure in Colombia and the amounts spent.

Current technical co-operation commitments in Colombia funded by Overseas Development Administration are as follows:

• a project in support of biological control of the pests of coffee plants—£0·833 million.
• advice and training support in the post-harvest handling of fruit—£0·842 million.
• completion of a programme of training in mines safety—£0·332 million.
• support to teacher training in English language education—£0·456 million
• sponsorship of post-basic training in the United Kingdom—around £0·5 million per annum.

Technical co-operation spending in Colombia amounted to £1·149 million in 1990–91 and £1·292 million in 1991–92.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the destination, dates and purposes of each overseas visit undertaken by the Minister for Overseas Development since April 1992.

Lady Chalker's overseas (ravel 1992
When	Number of working days out of the office	Where	Reason
April
Monday 13 to Tuesday 14	1½	Budapest	1st AGM of EBRD
May
Sunday 3 to Tuesday 5	2	Brussels	EC Formal Development Council, Joint EC Development/Environment Council, Bilaterals with EC Commissioners
Friday 22 to Sunday 24	3	Lisbon	Conference on Humanitarian aid to FSU
June
Monday 1	1	Geneva	UN/SADCC Conference
Saturday 6 to Saturday 13	7	Rio de Janeiro	UNCED
Sunday 14 to Monday 15	1	New York	UNICEF Executive Board
July Sunday 5 to Tuesday 7	2	New York	UN ECOSOC High Level meeting
Wednesday 8 to Thursday 9	2	Washington	IBRD, IMF, IADB and State Department Bilaterals
Wednesday 15	½	Brussels	European Parliament Development Committee
Tuesday 28 to Wednesday 29	1½	Geneva	UNHCR Conference on ex-Yugoslavia
August
Thursday 20 to Saturday 22	2	Wolfsberg. Switzerland	ICRC High Level Meeting
September
Saturday 12 to Sunday 13	2	Kenya	EC Troika visit to Kenya and Somalia, Heads of Mission Conference in Zambia. Bilateral and drought relief visit to Zambia and Zimbabwe
Monday 14	1	Somalia
Tuesday 15 to Thursday 17	3	Zambia
Friday 18	1	Zimbabwe
Saturday 19	1	South Africa	British-South African Conference, Durban and bilaterals with South African politicians
Sunday 20	1	Mozambique	Bilaterals and drought relief
Tuesday 29	1	Luexembourg	EC/ACP Joint Assembly
Wednesday 30 to Friday 2 (October)	1½	Former Yugoslavia	Bilaterals and to see humanitarian relief work
October
Monday 5	1	Luxembourg	FAC: Somalia briefing

[holding answer 12 July 1993]: The information requested is contained in the tables.

To ask the Prime Minister what trade facilitation groups have been set up in Peru, Colombia and Mexico in the wake of his visit; and what advantages have accrued to Britain as a result of agreements and understandings arrived at during his visit.

On my visit to Colombia last year I agreed with President Gaviria that we should establish a trade facilitation group and that the United Kingdom and Colombia should begin negotiations for an investment promotion and protection agreement and a double taxation agreement. The trade facilitation group has now reported back on obstacles to bilateral trade and how to overcome them and has identified many opportunities for British businesses. We hope to sign an IPPA and a DTA soon. I did not visit Peru or Mexico.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will set out the steps taken by his Government to ensure that Government Departments pay outstanding bills within 30 days of their receipt; and if he will make a statement.

"Government Accounting" requires all Departments to pay outstanding bills in accordance with the terms of the contract or generally understood terms of business, or within 30 days of the receipt of goods and services or the presentation of a valid invoice or similar demand for payment, whichever is the later, if no terms are specified.Departments are responsible for monitoring their payment performance. The results for 1991–92 were published in written parliamentary answers on 13 July 1992. The results for 1992–93 will be published shortly and Departments will, in future, also be required to publish details of their payment performance in departmental reports.

To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will place in the Library all Government records relating to the child migrant scheme;(2) what discussions he has had with representatives of the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian Governments concerning the welfare of United Kingdom child migrants; what is the Government's policy towards the compensation of those who have suffered as a result of this scheme; if he will take steps to increase Government grant assistance to the Child Migrant Trust; and if he will make a statement.

It would not be right to place personal record files in the Library. Other records are considered for deposit in the Public Record Office in the usual way.I have not raised the subject of child migrants with the Heads of Government in Australia, New Zealand or Canada, nor have they raised the subject with me. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health is contacting the Australian authorities.I know there have been allegations of physical and sexual abuse of a number of child migrants some years ago in Australia, but any such allegations will be a matter for the Australian authorities. I am not aware of any allegations involving the British authorities or claims against them for compensation.The Child Migrant Trust applied for Government funds and has received a section 64 grant of £25,000 from the Department of Health for the current year.Any future application will be considered by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Great Grimsby (Mr. Mitchell), of 5 July, Official Report, column 11, what charges are made to organisations or persons holding non-official events at 10 Downing street in respect of overheads or indirect costs associated with such functions.

[holding answer 9 July 1993]: The practice under this and previous Administrations is that the organisers are responsible for all catering and staff costs, as well as other miscellaneous direct costs. No charges are levied for overheads or indirect costs.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Newham North-West (Mr. Banks) on 5 July, Official Report, column 11, whether all political parties represented in the House can apply to use 10 Downing Street for fund raising and other social purposes.

[holding answer 9 July 1993] : As under previous Administrations, the use of 10 Downing street for non-official or party functions is a matter for the Prime Minister.

To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to his answer of 5 July, Official Report, column 11, which Ministers have hosted non-official or party receptions or functions in 10 Downing street since 1979.

[holding answer 13 July 19931]: I have hosted all such events since November 1990.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, Official Report, columns 11–12, if he will give details of the occasions upon which No. 10 Downing street was used for functions for which tickets were sold for the benefit of political parties since 1979.

[holding answer 13 July 1993]: As I said in the reply to which the hon. Member refers, that is not a matter for the Government.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 5 July, Official Report, column 12, on attendance by Mr. Asil Nadir at functions at No. 10 Downing street, which of the functions attended were Government functions; and who issued the invitation in each such case.

[holding answer 13 July 1993]: The only Government function was the dinner for the President of Turkey. For all the functions, invitations would have been issued in the name of the Prime Minister.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the official visits made by heads of foreign states to Northern Ireland in each of the last three years, the engagements carried out by them during each such visit, and indicating which engagements were private, public and official.

[holding answer 13 July 1993]: There have been no official visits made to Northern Ireland by heads of foreign states in the last three years.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he will publish the consultation paper on the protection of conservation areas.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment and I issued this on 8 July together with a draft planning policy guidance note on historic buildings and conservation areas. Further details were given in my reply of 9 July to my hon. Friend the Member for St. Ives (Mr. Harris), Official Report, column 287.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage on how many occasions grants have been made by the Arts Council under its (a) bursaries to writers scheme and (b) writers in residence scheme during the last five years to applicants who were neither resident in England nor had any previous connection with England.

Under the Arts Council of Great Britain's "Bursaries to writers scheme", bursaries are offered only to writers currently resident in England. Separate schemes are run by both the Welsh and Scottish arts councils. Grants to five writers from abroad have been made by the Arts Council of Great Britain under its "writers in residence scheme" attached to particular areas of the country. Grants under other residency schemes have, to date, been made only to British writers.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement explaining the categories and criteria by which the North West Council for Sport and Recreation assesses the needs of rural communities in terms of minimum levels of sports facility provisions.

[holding answer 12 July 1993]: This issue has been examined in a specific study commissioned by the North West Council for Sport and Recreation, published in June 1991, entitled "Sport for Rural Communities". The study offers guidelines for sports facility provision based upon the size of rural communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will give a breakdown by category or rural community of the grants made by the North West Council for Sport and Recreation in the latest year for which figures are available.

[holding answer 12 July 1993]: The North West Council for Sport and Recreation does not make grants, but advises the Sports Council's North West regional office and others on the allocation of their grant aid. Grants made by the Sports Council's north-west region in rural areas in 1992–93 were as follows:

Capital grants applicant	Project	Grant £
John Schofield tennis centre	Construction of two indoor court tennis centres at Clitheroe	50,000
Nantwich & Border Counties sailing club	Extension to clubhouse to provide changing facilities	10,000
Cheshire NW schoolboys scramble club	Purchase of land and the provision of toilet/wash-house facilities at Peacock Hay	7,500
Chester mountaineering club	Renovation and upgrading of a mountain hut	10,000
Revenue Grants
Community council of Lancashire	Rural areas sports development officer to assist in implementing the Rural Areas Topic Study	30,000
Cheshire community council	Appointment of sports development officer for rural areas in Cheshire to assist in implementing the Rural Areas Topic Study	30,000
Ribbic Valley borough council	Appointment of a sports development officer to promote all aspects of sport in the borough	10,382

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 14 June, Official Report, column 463, what information he has on the total holdings of Mesopotamian archaeological objects in British public museums.

[holding answer 12 July 1993]: Information on the total holdings of Mesopotamian archaeological objects in British public museums is not held centrally. If the hon. Member requires such information, the director of the British Museum would he happy to advise him on how best to proceed to collect it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what representations he has received from the director of Canning house on the study of Portuguese in British schools; and what was his response;(2) whether he will arrange for at least one examination board to offer GCSE in Portuguese.

My right hon. Friend has received several representations about the decision of the University of London Examinations and Assessment Council to discontinue its GCSE examinations in Portuguese after 1994, including one from the director general of Canning house. Following discussions with the Department, the council has recently decided to continue offering the syllabus beyond that date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what plans he has to stop the practice of including special schools in performance league tables.

My right hon. Friend has no such plans. Special schools, like all schools, deserve credit for the level of performance they achieve and should not therefore be excluded from the comparative tables. They will be listed in a separate section of the tables.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he intends to include special schools in the proposed national truancy league tables.

Yes. Regular school attendance is important for all pupils. Special school pupils will benefit from the provision being made for them only if they attend regularly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what arrangements he has made for the introduction of a preliminary scheme of school-centred initial teacher training this year.

In March this year my right hon. Friend invited proposals from consortia of schools to design, organise and make provision for courses of initial teacher training for up to 250 graduates. The courses will lead to qualified teacher status for successful students. On 31 May he announced those consortia which have been approved to offer courses starting in September. A further announcement on courses starting in January 1994 will be made shortly. Parliamentary approval to this new service will be sought in a supplementary estimate for the higher and further education vote—class X, vote 2. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £500,000 will be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will provide in respect of each school which has held a ballot on grant-maintained status (a) the percentages of parents voting and (b) the percentages voting for and against.

The details requested, correct as of 11 July, are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what experience of working with young children will be necessary to enter the proposed one-year primary teacher training courses;(2) what will be the minimum qualifications needed to take part in the one-year teacher training courses for primary schools; and what age groups will be recruited;(3) what percentage of the future intake of teacher training will consist of persons taking the one-year primary school courses.

My right hon. Friend issued a draft circular on 9 June which included proposals for specialist one-year courses of initial training for early years teaching, for mature people with the academic qualifications for higher education together with significant experience of working with children. Views on the organisation and content of such courses were invited. The consultation period will continue until the end of July and criteria for all courses of initial training for primary teachers will be finalised in the autumn. It will then be for those wishing to offer one-year courses to make detailed proposals and satisfy the Secretary of State that they meet the necessary requirements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 7 July, Official Report, c. 137, if he will obtain for his departmental library copies of the research on the impact of class size in educational attainment in Tennessee in the United States of America, details of which have been given to him; and if he will make a statement.

I have arranged for a copy of the report on the STAR project to be made available in the DFE information bureau and library. I have noted the findings of this research but conclude that it adds little to an understanding of the effects of class size on educational attainment in schools in England.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many student loans have been granted in each year since they were introduced; what is the total cash figure in each case; and what is the figure repayable in each case.

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

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will state the total change in public expenditure that would result from public expenditure per person in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland being at the same level as in England for (a) 1979, (b) 1992–93 and (c) the 1994–95 and 1995–96 published plans.

Information on general Government expenditure per head in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is published annually in the "Statistical Supplement to the Autumn Statement". The latest information, for 1987–88 to 1991–92, was published in Cm. 2219. Equivalent information is not available for 1979 or for years beyond 1991–92.Table E1 in Cm. 2219 shows identifiable general Government expenditure per person in 1991–92 of £2,963 in England. Equivalent figures for the rest of the United Kingdom were £3,506 in Scotland; £3,268 in Wales; and £4,191 in Northern Ireland. On this basis, total identifiable general Government expenditure was some £5½ billion higher in the rest of the United Kingdom taken together than in England.Those figures go wider than expenditure for which the Secretaries of State for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are directly responsible. They include, for example, expenditure on social security. They exclude, however, almost a fifth of total general Government expenditure, which cannot be identified from official records as having been incurred on behalf of the population of a particular territorial area.