To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what steps he is taking to speed up the process of administration in the courts; and if he will make a statement.

Several steps are presently being taken to improve the process of administration in the courts.In the Crown court, the recommendations of two major reports are being implemented or considered. The first is the inter-agency report of the pre-trial issues (PTI) working group issued in 1990 and which was presented to Parliament in February 1991. The second is the Royal Commission on Criminal Justice published in July this year.In the magistrates courts a number of initiatives are being taken to reduce delays and waiting times. They include legislative amendments and the promotion of good practice in concert with all the criminal justice agencies. A standard computer system is being developed, as are changes to the management structure of courts, both of which will bring operational benefits.In the county courts, centralised computer systems are being developed. These include a project to centralise the handling of payments under county court attachment of earnings orders.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if he will introduce requirements for all judges to undergo comprehensive medical and psychological examinations on reaching the age of 65 years.

The Lord Chancellor has no such plans.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the latest estimated cost of legal aid.

The 1993–94 Supply Estimate provision for legal aid is £1,284 million, net of receipts. Based on figures for expenditure to the end of August, we now forecast that net expenditure for legal aid in the current year is likely to be £1,254 million. At this stage in the year, however, there is inevitably still uncertainty about the eventual outturn. The reduction in the forecast is largely related to criminal legal aid. The changes in eligibility introduced in April, the effect of which was almost entirely in relation to civil legal aid and advice and assistance appear to be having broadly the effect anticipated.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the cost for the current financial year of his Department having (a) premises and (b) personnel overseas; and what were the comparable figures for (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36 and (d) 48 months ago.

The Lord Chancellor's Department incurs only minor expenditure overseas. The table shows the expenditure on premises and personnel for 1993–94 and the previous four years. Expenditure prior to 1993–94 relates solely to the Office of the Judge Advocate General in Germany. Since 1991–92 the bulk of expenditure on the Judge Advocate's premises there has been paid by the Ministry of Defence. For 1993–94 the personnel cost includes the secondment of one officer to the Government of Australia.

Cost of overseas premises and personnel
Year	(a) Premises £	(b) Personnel £
1989–90	81,361	266,235
1990–91	76,178	244,143
1991–92	5,624	261,526
1992–93	2,457	273,769
1993–94	—	342,159

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proposals he has to review the appointment of the BBC national governor for Wales in the light of the report on the Welsh Development Agency presented to Parliament on 19 October.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now publish the Green Paper on taxi and private hire services in England and Wales.

The Green Paper was published today. It is a consultation document addressing fundamental issues relating to taxi and private hire services throughout England and Wales, including London, and I hope it will generate a stimulating debate on the way forward. I have asked for responses by 1 March 1994. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what period of consultation he intends to allow for those residents of Islington living to the west of Liverpool road in relation to Union Railways' proposal, announced on 22 September, for a grade-separated junction leading into St. Pancras station for the high-speed channel tunnel link.

Local authorities and action groups have been briefed by Union Railways on the rail link options, which are to be reported to the Government at the end of October. These bodies have been invited to submit formal comments directly to my Department by 12 November. Union Railways has, moreover, set up visiting public information centres for all parts of the route to explain the options. Comments from members of the public may either be made to Union Railways at the information centres or they can be sent to my Department. All comments received will be taken into account in our decisions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the A1/M1 link road works in Yorkshire (a) to commence and (b) to finish.

The public inquiry into this scheme was held in January and February of this year. After considering the inspector's recommendations, the Secretaries of State for Transport and for the Environment will decide on the way forward. If a decision were taken to proceed with the proposals, construction would start after the completion of detailed design, subject to the availability of funds. Typically, schemes of this size take about three years to build.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review the traffic volume criteria for grade separation at crossings in the design of further dual carriageway projects on the A 1 road in Northumberland, to correspond with the standards which are being observed on the neighbouring section of the A1 in Scotland.

The Department is already working closely with the Scottish Office and, indeed, also with the Welsh Office and DOE Northern Ireland on the development of common design criteria for grade separation of road junctions. The intention is to produce a United Kingdom-wide standard.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many medical appeals have been made to the DVLA since April 1992 by LGV/LPV vocational drivers; how many notified appeals were proceeded with; how many were resolved medically by the DVLA; how many (a) LGV cases and (b) LPV cases went to magistrates courts for appeal; how many appeals in each of the two categories were refused on grounds of drug abuse, alcohol abuse, diabetes, epilepsy, cardiac problems, history of strokes, non-epileptic fits and other conditions; and how many appeals were allowed in each of the categories in respect of diabetes, corrected vision, monocular vision, deafness, history of suicidal tendencies, psychotic illness, hydrocephalus and other conditions.

In the period April 1992 to September 1993, DVLA received 257 notices of appeal from LGV/PCV drivers. Of these 242 were resolved at DVLA and did not proceed to court. Fifteen summonses were issued against the Department, of which, two were later withdrawn. The results of the remaining 13 appeals, by medical condition, are as follows:—

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what considerations he has given to establishing medical appeal tribunals analogous to those operated by the Department of Social Security for appeals against DVLA decisions on the issue of LGV/LPV licences.

We are currently looking at the use of independent medical referees rather than the more expensive medical tribunal system.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what action he will take to ensure that hold baggage in passenger airplanes is accompanied by its owners on flights from London Heathrow and other British international airports.

At present, the aircraft operator is required by law to ensure that all originating passengers, operating crew, transit passengers and any transfer passengers whose hold baggage has been loaded into an aircraft, have boarded and will travel on that aircraft. The baggage of passengers who check in but do not board the aircraft is required to be removed and subjected to security controls. Unaccompanied baggage is not carried unless it is screened and if necessary hand-searched.The United Kingdom has always complied with international requirements on passenger baggage. We are going further and introducing a requirement for airlines to account for and authorise for carriage every item of hold baggage that they carry. Trials are under way at several airports, and we are pressing suppliers of equipment to clear up the remaining technical difficulties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make public the marine accident investigation branch report and the video evidence of the damage to the MFV Pescado.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: Inquiries into the loss of the Pescado are being carried out with a view to prosecution. Consequently, all evidence collected by the marine accident investigation branch in the course of its investigation must be considered sub judice. For the same reason, publication of the detailed marine accident investigation branch report must await the outcome of those inquiries.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the award of Jubilee line tunnelling contracts to foreign companies on the ability of British firms to compete for other large-scale civil projects.

The award of contracts for the Jubilee line extension (JLE) is entirely a matter for London Underground Limited. No major contracts for the JLE have yet been awarded; I understand that although some of the tunnelling contracts are likely to be awarded to foreign companies, the larger part of the tunnelling work will go to the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the amount of the costs awarded by the Law Lords on 28 July against his predecessor the right hon. Member for Mole Valley (Mr. Baker) in respect of the Home Department being ruled guilty of contempt of court in relation to a court order banning deportation of the Zairean asylum seeker 'M' ; how much of the costs his Department paid; and if he will make a statement.

The consequence of the ruling by the Judicial Committee in the House of Lords on 28 July is that the Home Office is liable for the applicant's costs in the proceedings in the Divisional Court, Court of Appeal and the House of Lords. The applicant's solicitors costs for the Divisional Court and the Court of Appeal have been taxed and are:

• Divisional Court-£51,195.92
• Court of Appeal-£41,110.30

The applicant's solicitors have submitted a bill for their costs in the House of Lords. When this has been taxed, all the applicant's outstanding costs will be paid.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will consider establishing a list of registered interests for members of the Animal Procedures Committee similar to those registers available for other independent Government advisory committees.

I shall arrange for such a list to be included in future reports of the Animal Procedures Committee.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the number of (a) procedures and (b) animals used for research on (i) tobacco, (ii) cosmetics and toiletries, (iii) food additives and (iv) alcohol in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Categories (i) to (iv) are not separately recorded for medical or applied research purposes but are for procedures for safety evaluation. The number of procedures were as follows:

Year	Tobacco	Cosmetics and toiletries	Food additives	Alcohol
1990	659	4,365	10,822	1,429
1991	512	3,082	10,855	1,294
1992	197	2,164	6,134	1,087

The number of animals used in each procedure could be extracted from the recorded information only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the police authorities that recorded the five highest crime clear-up rates in each of the past seven years.

The police forces with the highest clear-up rates, in order, were as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what percentage of the prison population had been convicted of crimes involving violence for the last date for which figures are available.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: 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.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish a table showing the capital allocation to each of the county authorities in Wales for each of the last three financial years; what percentage of each allocation was actually expended; and what is his calculation of what expenditure should have been incurred in respect of each of the main service areas.

The available information is given in the following tables. The Government's new planning totals for the external financing of capital expenditure and the assumed gross expenditure by broad service group are available only for Wales as a whole.Basic credit approvals (BCA) form the capital allocations which are not directed towards specific services or programmes. Other external capital financing is provided through supplementary credit approvals, capital grants and other contributions from central Government and their agencies. These latter sources are generally

Table 1: Allocation and use of basic credit approvals (BCA)
	BCA issued (£ million)			Use of BCA as a percentage of BCA issued1		Gross capital expenditure2(£ million)
	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1990–91	1991–92	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Clwyd	12·7	13·0	12·1	100	100	19·6	22·2	18·8
Dyfed	12·5	13·0	13·2	91	100	17·3	20·0	20·7
Gwent	12·1	13·8	14·4	100	100	32·8	34·2	46·2
Gwynedd	8·3	8·6	8·6	100	100	10·7	11·9	11·3
Mid Glamorgan	18·0	18·8	19·1	100	100	37·9	46·2	44·8
Powys	6·4	6·6	6·7	99	99	7·8	10·2	11·5
South Glamorgan	11·9	12·6	12·6	100	78	31 7	50·4	48 4
West Glamorgan	11·5	11·9	12·4	100	100	27·1	28·3	24·1
Total	93·4	98·3	99·1	99	97	185·0	223·4	225·7
Source: Welsh office returns.
1 Net of transfers between authorities. Not available for 1992–93.
2 Includes expenditure financed by external sources other than BCA. Also includes self-financed expenditure. Excludes Law and Order. 1990–91 and 1991–92 outturn; 1992–93 provisional outturn.

Table 2: New planning total and assumed gross expenditure1 (£ million)
	New planning total			Assumed gross expenditure
	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Education	50·1	56·7	55·2	53·7	66·6	63·0
Personal social services	9·9	10·3	11·2	10·8	12·2	12·8
Transport	81·4	99·5	100·9	86·6	115·1	113·4
Other local services	57·7	61·7	54·5	72·2	93·6	99·8
Housing	190·3	194·3	279·4	226·7	226·0	306·6
Urban programme	24·9	41·6	35·1	24·9	41 6	35·1
Total	414·3	464·1	536·3	474·9	555·0	630·7
1 Excluding Law and Order

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will respond to the third report of the Welsh Affairs Committee Session 1992–93 on rural housing.

I am pleased to announce that the response has been published today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a list of all Welsh Office working groups together with the membership of each and a note of other public bodies to which any member also belongs.

The information required is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a copy of the register held by the Welsh Office of candidates suitable for public appointment.

No—this information is confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the raised peat bogs within Wales.

The information requested is as follows:

• Fenns and Whixall Mosses, Clwyd
• Nug and Merddwr complex, Clwyd
• Cors Caron, Dyfed
• Cors Fochno, Dyfed
• Esgyrn Bottom, Dyfed
• Gorslas, Dyfed
• Cors Goch, Llanllwch, Dyfed
• Arthog Bog, Gwynedd
• Cors Goch, Trawsfynydd, Gwynedd
• Rhosgoch Common, Powys
• Craig-y-Ciliau, Powys
• Nelson Bog, Mid Glamorgan

There may be some additional small mires which would fall into this category but these will require further investigation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement outlining the main findings to the formal consultation arranged by his Department on traffic calming measures.

On 23 February, in conjunction with the Department of Transport, we wrote to interested parties, including Welsh local authority associations and county surveyors, inviting comments on draft traffic calming regulations. The few comments received were of a technical nature and the proposals were generally welcomed. The Highways (Traffic Calming) Regulations 1993 came into force on 27 August.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make it his policy to include references to evaluation targets for youth training within his Department's annual expenditure plans.

The Department's annual expenditure plans are currently being prepared. It is my intention that these will include reference to agreed targets for youth training.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will re-examine the instruction currently being given by regional offices of his Department that funds under the EC Konver programme are only available to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Commission's list of the types of measures which Konver may part-finance includes

"diversification of the region's economic structure, particularly through aid for the development of small and medium-sized firms".

Assistance from European structural funds community initiatives, such as Konver, is allocated in each member state in accordance with a national "programme" which may stipulate narrower priorities.The United Kingdom is one of those member states in which Konver grants to companies will be limited to small and medium sized enterprises. This accords with the Government's priorities for the use of the sums of grant available from the funds generally.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what directions the Government propose to give to the trustees of the Post Office superannuation and Post Office pension schemes about division of their funds and assets in the event of the privatisation of Post Office Counters Ltd., Royal Mail Ltd., and Parcelforce Ltd.

The Government are continuing their review into the future structure and organisation of the Post Office. Once the Government have decided on the future of the Post Office and its constituent businesses, it will be able to consider any implications for pensions in detail. Until then, this question is hypothetical.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what changes in the Post Office superannuation and Post Office pension schemes he expects to make in the light of the recommendations of the Goode report.

Operational responsibility for the Post Office pension schemes rests not with Ministers but with the trustees of the schemes, together with the Post Office. The Goode report is being considered by Government, and the trustees of the Post Office schemes will no doubt wish to consider any implications which may arise in due course.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what progress has been made, in conjunction with the European Communities, in establishing an offshore wave power generator project.

Two United Kingdom proposals, from the Queen's university Belfast, and from Applied Research and Technology Ltd. (ART), of Inverness, for wave energy pilot plants with a power rating between 0.4MW and 2.0MW have been offered support from the Commission of the European Communities' JOULE programme. Both received assistance from the energy technology support unit (ETSU), acting on behalf of DTI, in preparing their proposals.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what response he has made to the recent application by Nuclear Electric plc to build a third nuclear plant at Sizewell.

My Department directed Nuclear Electric plc to advertise its application pursuant to the terms of the Electricity (Applications for Consent) Regulations 1990 and the Electricity and Pipe-line Works (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1990.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received from Oftel to be given overall responsibility for the change in telephone codes due to take place in 1995; and if he will make a statement.

We have not received any such representations. Oftel is already working to ensure that, wherever possible, telecoms operators and the manufac- turers and maintainers of telephony equipment discharge their responsibilities to their customers in relation to the national code change in a timely and co-ordinated way so as to minimise any costs and disruption to the end-user.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to enable Oftel to take over control and allocation of telephone numbers; and if he will make a statement.

The 1991 White Paper, "Competition and Choice: Telecommunications Policy for the 1990s" (Cm 1461) made it clear that Oftel would be taking action to enable it to administer a national numbering plan. Operators' licences were subsequently amended to provide Oftel with the necessary powers once numbering conventions had been published and a specified numbering scheme determined. Oftel intends to take over responsibility for the allocation of numbers during the first half of 1994.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the current telephone network operators; and what is his estimate of the likely number of telephone network operators in April 1995.

Since the publication of the 1991 White Paper, "Competition and Choice: Telecommunications Policy for the 1990s" (Cm 1461), licences have been granted, in addition to those already granted to BT and Mercury Communications Ltd, to the following companies to run fixed-link public telecommunications systems throughout the United Kingdom: Ionica L3 Ltd; Energis Communications Ltd; Scottish Hydro-Electric plc; ScottishPower Telecommunications Ltd; Torch Communications Ltd; and MFS Communications Ltd. Applications for similar licences are also under consideration.The number of licensed operators is expected to have increased by April 1995, but my Department does not produce estimates of the likely number of operators in future years. This will depend on the number of future applications and whether these meet the considerations which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has to take into account under the Telecommunications Act 1984 before granting a licence.

	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Company winding-up orders	3,952	3,554	4,431	6,777	8,911	9,540
Bankruptcy orders	7,365	7,607	8,679	14,359	26,186	33,152
TOTAL	11,317	11,161	13,110	21,136	35,097	42,692

	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Permanent	1,516	1,443	1,395	1,431	1,500	1,531
Casuals	1n/a	1n/a	10	24	85	158
TOTAL	1,516	1,443	1,405	1,455	1,585	1,689
1Note: No separate record of casuals, numbers insignificant.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he will appoint members of the energy review panel which he announced in the coal White Paper.

[pursuant to his reply, 26 October 1993]: I announced to the House on 20 October that Dr. Martin Holdgate had agreed to chair the new energy advisory panel and that I had invited a number of independent experts in the energy field to serve as members. I am pleased to be able now to announce the full membership of the panel and look forward to the input which they will

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what estimate he has made of the costs, both private and public, of reprogramming of telephone equipment due to the proposed code changes in 1995.

This is a matter for Oftel. In July 1992 it published a study carried out by Ovum which estimated that the direct costs of modifications to customer premises equipment as a result of the national code change were likely to be in the order of £200 million.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent representations he has received about the competence of insolvency service staff.

No recent representations have been received.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many staff are employed in the insolvency service disqualification unit; and what was the average number employed in the unit for each year since 1987.

The insolvency service's disqualification unit currently employs 49.5 persons. The number averaged 47 in each year from 1987 to 1990, 49 in 1991 and 49.5 in 1992.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many insolvencies, identifying companies and bankruptcies were dealt with by the insolvency service together with the average number of staff, identifying permanent and casual, in post for each year from 1987.

The insolvency service dealt with the following number of cases:The average number of staff were:make to the energy report next year. I am sure that the report will be an invaluable document to all those with an interest in energy.With the arrival of the panel, I have decided to dissolve the Department's former advisory council on research and development. ACORD has provided valuable technical advice to a succession of Ministers and Departments since it was first set up 45 years ago but major changes to the energy scene in recent years—particularly the privatisation of the nationalised energy industries—have meant that ACORD's main original function—a detailed technical overview of those industries research plans—is no longer necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what conclusions he has reached as a result of the consultation carried out by his Department on whether there is a case for abolishing the Accommodation Agencies Act 1953.

Following consultation, we have decided that the Accommodation Agencies Act 1953 should be retained. It is clear that the need to protect those seeking accommodation from unscrupulous or bogus agencies outweight the benefit which might come from allowing agencies to adopt new patterns of business by charging fees in advance to those seeking accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the number of recorded fatalities of (a) dolphins and (b) whales and other cetaceans in United Kingdom waters in each of the last five years.

The available figures on cetacean deaths come from a DOE-sponsored scheme for co-ordinated reports of stranded cetaceans around Great Britain. The scheme does not extend to Northern Ireland. The figures are:

Year	Dolphins	Whales and other cetaceans
1988	44	63
1989	43	95
1990	52	98
1991	78	116
1992	256	159

The 1992 figures appear to reflect an unusual series of strandings of common dolphins off the south-west coast of England in spring 1992 and additional information for Scottish waters following the appointment of a co-ordinator for Scottish reports.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he proposes to make to provide a more independent role for the drinking water inspectorate.

We propose to transfer to the chief drinking water inspector certain statutory responsibilities of the Secretaries of State for the Environment and for Wales. These include the power to prosecute if water were to be supplied that was unfit for human consumption. We believe that the chief inspector should exercise these responsibilities independently. Legislation will be needed to make the change.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the cost for the current financial year of his Department having (a) premises and (b) personnel overseas; and what were the comparable figures for (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36 and (d) 48 months ago.

DOE (central) has one member of staff stationed in Germany. Personnel and premises costs are covered by payments received for the work carried out; hence, DOE (central) incurs no net expenditure.In addition, the international arm of PSA Services had premises and personnel overseas in the past four years and the costs incurred were as follows:

	(a) Premises£'000	(b) Personnel£'000
1993–94	17	2,891
1992–93	167	17,648
1991–92	183	14,431
1990–91	594	64,680

These costs were fully met by receipts from the Ministry of Defence and other customers. PSA International closed on 30 September 1993, and no further costs will be incurred. Residual tasks are being completed by units in PSA Services.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what factors were taken into account in his decision to grant licences to Ince and Richborough power stations to burn orimulsion; and if he will make a statement.

The recent authorisation by HMIP is a registration of the existing process under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, rather than approval to a new use of orimulsion. Richborough and Ince power stations are now under integrated pollution control as applied to other large power stations earlier this year.At Richborough and Ince, the limits on the release of sulphur dioxide have been set to ensure that emissions will be no higher than if heavy fuel oil was being burnt.All power station authorisations include limits on the release of the main pollutants, including sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emitted to air. These limits for releases to air vary from station to station depending on its environmental circumstances and are based on the consideration of the national plan, which aims progressively to reduce such emissions over a number of years, critical load, and local air quality.The authorisations also contain controls on releases to water which accommodate the requirements of the National Rivers Authority.Plants are required to use BATNEEC—best available techniques not entailing excessive cost—in controlling releases, and authorisations require operators to provide an improvement plan to bring the station up to new plant standards. Unless PowerGen can demonstrate adequate reasons to the contrary, they will be expected to employ appropriate sulphur abatement techniques at Richborough and Ince by 1 April 1998. This is three years earlier than the normal objective for coal fired stations because of the economics of burning orimulsion.HMIP is satisfied that there are no environmental grounds for refusing authorisation for full scale burning of orimulsion.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what costs were incurred by his Department for arrangements associated with the 1933 Conservative party conference in Blackpool.

The only identifiable costs incurred by my Department were those in arranging for urgent Government papers to be sent to Ministers attending the Conservative party conference.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what progress has been made to date on reviewing the United Nations Economic Commission on Europe protocol on sulphur; and if he will make it his policy to sign the revised protocol.

Negotiations are still in progress.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to support the awarding of a European eco-label to peat-free soil conditioners and growing media based on organic waste materials only.

The United Kingdom Ecolabelling Board has been established to administer and promote the European Community ecolabelling scheme nationally and has responsibility for dealing with the operational aspects of the scheme.I understand, however, that the UKEB has submitted to the Commission proposals for soil improvers based on the use of composted waste products. Proposals for growing media are still under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those sites of special scientific interest which are being damaged by existing peat extraction work and those which have planning permission but are not yet being extracted.

The information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, under the terms of the agreement reached with Fisons peat extraction is continuing over previously cut areas at Thorne, Goole and Crowle moors, Hatfield moor, Wedholm Flow, Westhay moor and Shapwick heath. I am informed that some peat extraction is taking place at Fenns, Whixall and Bettesfield Mosses, Catcott, Chilton and Edington moors, Tealham and Tadham moors, Bolton Fell Moss, Chat Moss and Danes Moss under planning permissions give prior to SSSI notification.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will bring forward proposals to introduce a levy upon peat extraction.

The Government have no plans at present to introduce a levy on peat extraction.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement outlining the outcome of his Department's review on the rehabilitation of bogs.

The Department's review on the rehabilitation of lowland peat bogs is ongoing and results will be made available next year when the study is complete.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to establish a development agency to secure partnership between central Government and those with a commercial interest in developing and marketing peat-free growing media and soil conditioners.

The Government have no plans at the present time to establish such an agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to change current sludge and land regulations to allow the immediate use of composted sewage sludge in amenity planting.

Such use of composted sludge is already permitted. The restrictions in the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 govern the application of sludge only to agricultural land. There is also an exemption from the requirement to hold a waste disposal licence (in Schedule 6, paragraph 13 of the Collection and Disposal of Waste Regulations 1988) for the deposit of sewage sludge, whether composted or not, directly on to land for the purpose of fertilising or beneficially conditioning that land.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to change the compensation requirements payable for revocation or variation for mineral contents to enable money to be paid in proportion to any losses actually suffered.

The existing legislation already provides for compensation to be calculated in relation to loss or damage suffered, although the amount of compensation can be abated in certain circumstances. However, the Government are reviewing the operation of that legislation as part of their wider review of old mineral permissions and I hope to be able to issue a consultation paper outlining reforms later this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to offer compensatory payments to any mineral planning authority minded to revoke an extant planning permission on a site of national or international conservation importance.

Compensation payable for revoking or modifying minerals permissions on any site is governed by the 1981 Minerals Act. It will be reviewed as part of a wider review of old mineral permissions on which the Department hopes to issue a consultation paper early next year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will announce his plans for the third round of city challenge.

We are keeping the position on a third round under review in the light of urban policy developments.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the present status of the royal charter granted between 1123 and 1135 which stipulates that land at Lee Gap, Woodkirk, Morley, will be available for the holding of horse fairs; and which Department or agency of Government has responsibility for the maintenance of rights confirmed by royal charter.

Information on royal charters is a matter for the Lord President of the Council, but the maintenance of such rights is a matter for the owner.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment has been made by his Department of the possible impact of energy efficiency programme development on levels of fuel bill charges in the United Kingdom.

I understand that the Energy Saving Trust is aiming to develop schemes which will by 2000 lead to energy savings by consumers equivalent to at least 2.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions a year. To achieve this the trust will need to offer incentives to investment in energy efficiency measures which may need to build up to about £400 million a year. Achievement of the trust's target will lead to substantial net financial savings to consumers by 2000, even if the gas and electricity regulators were to allow the entire cost of these incentives to be charged in gas and electricity tariffs. Before 2000, there will be times when consumers' savings have not yet fully offset the cost, and the peak level of increase in bills arising from this would be between 1 per cent. and 2 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement outlining his Department's response to the recommendations on clinical waste incineration outlined in the report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.

The Government have welcomed the report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution on the incineration of waste as a comprehensive and clear analysis of the role of incineration as a waste management option. The Government will be making a full response to the commission's report in due course.My Department is currently reviewing the advice given in waste management paper No. 25 on the arisings, treatment and disposal of clinical waste. A consultation paper was issued in August this year and it is hoped that the revised paper will be published in December.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to publish information on the chemical composition of incinerated waste in the United Kingdom

Wastes incinerated in the United Kingdom include household waste, sewage sludge and organic chemical wastes. This wide range of incinerated wastes means it is not practicable for my right hon. Friend to publish information on their chemical composition.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make it his policy to adopt the four-stage waste management procedure outlined in the report on the incineration of waste by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution.

The Government's waste policies are based upon a hierarchy of waste management options; the reduction of waste, its re-use wherever possible, recycling and energy recovery, and final disposal.The Government have welcomed the report by the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution on the incineration of waste as a clear and comprehensive analysis of the role of incineration as a waste management option. A full response by the Government to the report will be made in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he plans to publish and implement the new waste management licensing laws under part 2 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans) on 29 April 1993 at column 470, and the reply to the hon. Member for Gower (Mr. Wardell) on 18 May 1993 at columns 101–2. It remains the Government's intention to bring the waste mangement licensing provisons of part II of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 into force as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to develop a United Kingdom-wide strategy for the safe handling and disposal of used tyres.

Used tyres are controlled waste as defined by the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and as such they are subject to stringent controls. Section 34 of the Act—the duty of care—places a duty on everyone who has a responsibility for waste to ensure that it is properly managed from production to disposal. Producers of waste must, under the duty of care, satisfy themselves that they are passing on waste to people who will handle it properly and ensure its safe disposal. Facilities which accept used tyres for disposal require a waste disposal licence under the Control of Pollution Act 1974, soon to be superseded by the waste management licensing provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. Such licences include conditions designed to prevent pollution of the environment and harm to human health.The Government are participating in a European Community priority waste stream group to develop by the

HMIP-RSA 1960 prosecutions (1989 to date)
Division/Region	Name	Act	Offence	Dale of hearing	Verdict	Fine	Cost
East	Gcunwick Processing Laboratories, Hertfordshire	RSA 1960	Failure to notify the loss of a registered source and failure to keep the source within a suitable store.	1989–90	Guilty	£1,000	—
East	UK Atomic Energy Authority	RSA 1960	Incidents relating to the release of radioactive tritium gas to the atmosphere.	5 June 1991	Guilty	£3,000	£1,395

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what monitoring has been undertaken by his Department to date on compliance with the duty of care rules established under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The duty of care, in section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, requires all holders of waste—except private households—to take reasonable steps to prevent the illegal disposal of their waste. Under the duty, waste may be handed only to an authorised person and transfers of waste must be documented. It is in the nature of this duty that compliance is ensured mainly by each holder of waste in turn checking on the person to whom they consign waste, in order themselves to avoid committing an offence.The Government therefore do not undertake nor require local authorities to undertake any monitoring or inspection of firms' compliance with the duty. However, there is some early evidence of a decline in fly-tipping incidents since the duty of care came into force on 1 April 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the Institution of Environmental Health Officers concerning sustainable development; and if he will make a statement.

The Institution of Environmental Health Officers wrote to my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment in May on the subject of sustainable development and the environmental health profession, and contributed a specific response in September to my Department's consultation paper on the United Kingdom strategy for sustainable development. These are among more than 600 representations which my Department has received during the Government's consultation process on the strategy, which we are currently preparing. Copies of this document will be laid before the House in the normal way.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the companies found guilty of breaking the terms of the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 in the United Kingdom since 1989; and if he will set out the company name, level of fine and the offence in each case.

Details are set out in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many civil servants are working in the Environment Department offices in Marsham street, London.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: The Department currently has 2,218 employees working in Marsham street, of which 1,656 are located at No. 2, with 562 in Romney house and 43 Marsham street.

To ask the Attorney-General what is the cost for the current financial year of his Department having (a) premises and (b) personnel overseas; and what were the comparable figures for (a) 12, (b) 24, (c) 36 and (d) 48 months ago.

The cost of personnel for the current financial year is expected to be approximately £20,000, £10,069.71 as at 30 September 1993. Comparable figures for previous financial years were (a) 1992–93 £19,830.49, (b) 1991–92 £18,874.49, (c) 1990–91 nil, and (d) 1989–90 nil. There are and have been no costs for premises.

To ask the Attorney-General how many cases for the last available quarter the Crown prosecution service decided to drop; what proportion were dropped on public interest grounds; and how many on evidential grounds.

During the quarter ending June 1993, the CPS discontinued proceedings in respect of 43,997 defendants in magistrates' courts. This total comprises all cases discontinued by the 13 CPS areas, but does not include the specialised casework undertaken by the headquarters of the service.Reasons for discontinuance are recorded on the files relating to individual defendants, but the information is not collected or collated centrally. The information requested could therefore be obtained only at disproportionate cost.However, the Home Office has undertaken a research study which provides information about the circumstances in which the CPS terminates cases. An interim report shows that about half the cases terminated were discontinued on evidential grounds (54 per cent.), and just under one third were discontinued on public interest grounds (32 per cent.). The remaining cases could not proceed for various reasons: for example, where the defendant had died or could not be traced.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make it his policy to seek action at the appropriate European Council to remove the current statutory restrictions on information disclosure, to which reference is made at paragraph 6.12 of Cm 2290 on open government.

Restrictions on disclosure of information which arise from EC legislation generally exist for good reasons, principally to protect commercial confidentiality and enable national regulatory authorities to exchange information in confidence. Nevertheless, if the process of preparing legislation to implement the proposed right of access to health and safety information reveals that particular EC-derived restrictions are unduly extensive, we will raise our concerns with our Community partners and the Commission.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will set out details of initiatives and meetings his Department has sponsored, or participated in, to promote public discussion of the proposals contained in his White Paper on open government, Cm 2290.

The White Paper itself invited comments on the proposals it contains. My office has received nearly 100 letters from members of the public and representative organisations putting their views on various aspects of the proposals.On 21 October I addressed a public seminar on the White Paper organised by the Campaign for Freedom of Information and the First Division Association.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster when he intends to announce the results of the survey of public perceptions of public services undertaken for his Department in March.

I wrote to the hon. Member on 24 August 1993.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what area of land in England has been sold by the Forestry Commission; what area she expects to be sold during the next five years; and what area she expects to remain in the ownership of the Commission by 2000.

The Forestry Commission has sold 33,500 hectares of land in England since the disposals programme was introduced in 1981. As announced in Cm 2214, "The Government's Expenditure Plans 1993–94 to 1995–96 for the Department of the Secretary of State for Scotland and the Forestry Commission", table 13.10, the commission plans to sell 15,000 hectares of forest land in Britain in each of the next three years. The proportion of this that will be sold in England will depend on the state of the market, particularly the demand for forest land in different parts of the country. The sales programme for 1996–97 and beyond is under consideration and it is not possible at this stage to estimate precisely what area of land will remain in the commission's ownership by the year 2000.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what will be the predicted effect on wild birds of the move to non-rotational set-aside.

Non-rotational set-aside if properly managed can deliver considerable benefits to wild birds. We have issued specific guidance on how to manage set-aside land (either non-rotational or rotational) for ground-nesting birds and for wildfowl. In addition, one of the specific management options open to farmers is for wild bird cover, which can be used to provide winter feeding grounds for birds as well as cover during the rest of the year. However, it should not be forgotten that rotational set-aside land can also provide valuable feeding grounds for wild birds.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is the present acreage of land that is now in set aside; and what money is being paid in grants to farmers whose land is now in set aside.

Around 90,000 hectares—218,000 acres—of land are currently entered into the five-year set-aside scheme. There is no land currently in set-aside under the arable area payments scheme, since the set-aside period for 1992–93 ended earlier this summer. Provisional United Kingdom figures for the amount of land set-aside under the scheme for 1992–93 are 555,632 hectares (1,372,411 acres).Payment rates under the five-year set-aside scheme vary, depending on which scheme option the applicant has chosen, how much land has been entered into the scheme and when the applicant joined the scheme. The maximum current payment rate for the permanent fallow option is £222 per hectare (approximately £90 per acre).Payment rates under the arable area payments scheme are calculated on the basis of regional yields and therefore vary in the different countries of the United Kingdom. The payment rate for set-aside in England for 1992–93 is expected to be £253 per hectare (approximately £102 per acre).

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many investigations have been conducted by each local authority into potential breaches of the Welfare of Animals During Transport Order 1992; how many were successful prosecutions; and what was the average level of fine within each local authority area.

We have no information on how many individual investigations are carried out, but we have records of six successful prosecutions by local authorities under the order resulting in fines totalling £3,540. Local authorities have also issued more than 40 written cautions and regularly carry out random checks on livestock vehicles.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what proposals are being considered to allow the continued use by EC fishing vessels of drift nets over 2.5 km in length after 31 December; and if she will make a statement;(2) what measures currently exist to minimise the by-catch of striped and common dolphin by drift nets and other fishing methods.

Following international concern about the impact of large-scale pelagic drift netting on marine resources, including dolphins, the EC prohibited, from 1 June 1992, any EC fishing vessel from using drift nets more than 2.5 km long. However, a derogation allows vessels that fished for long-finned albacore tuna with drift nets in the north east Atlantic for at least two years before the regulation came into force, to use drift nets up to 5 km long until 31 December 1993. The headline of these nets must be submerged at a minimum depth of 2m to minimise risk of by-catches of small cetaceans. No United Kingdom vessels qualify for this derogation—which automatically expires unless the Council of Ministers decides to extend it in the light of scientific evidence showing the absence of any ecological risk. No proposal for a continuation of the derogation has been received. As a further measure to minimise dolphin by-catches, in October 1992 the EC prohibited any EC fishing vessel from encircling schools or groups of marine mammals with purse seine nets.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make it her policy to make representations to the representatives of the Russian Federation attending the convention of contracting parties of the sea disposal of wastes, being held in London on 8 to 12 November, on the dumping of Russian liquid radioactive wastes in the sea of Japan on 17 October.

The consultative meeting of the London Convention 1972 will receive a report on the recent sea disposal of radioactive waste by Russia. This should permit a more informed view of what has taken place and will allow us to determine the terms of any necessary representations on this matter to the Russians. The United Kingdom expressed its concern about the past illegal Russian disposal of radioactive waste in the economic declaration following the G7 summit in Tokyo in July.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement on the experiment in monitoring the sea discharge of radioactive technetium 99 from Sellafield.

This Ministry's fisheries laboratory at Lowestoft is carrying out measurements of technetium-99 in the Irish sea both as part of regular monitoring work, and in support of continuing research into the mechanisms of the distribution and uptake of this radionuclide within the marine environment. Reports on this work will be published in the normal way.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much was spent on official hospitality in her Department in the financial year 1992–93.

[holding answer 20 October 1993]: During the 1992–93 financial year, £80,314.80 was spent on official hospitality, including £20,336 for ministerial hospitality.The principal items included hospitality:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the oral answer of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs to the hon. Member for Wallasey (Ms Eagle) of 18 October, Official Report, column 16, if he will cite further examples of the popular policies in central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union to which he referred.

There has been widespread adoption by Governments of the region of policies designed to promote individual enterprise and the development of a market economy, promote respect for private property, foster civic rights and encourage the development of small businesses and the banking services to support them. These policies enjoy general support. Differences are more concerned with the speed of transition than its general direction.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what help has been given by Her Majesty's Government to the Kenya Government to help in the rehabilitation of street children in Nairobi, Kenya.

We have provided £9,600 as a contribution towards the cost of a health care centre.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) on what occasions his officials have visited the Chinese Family Planning Association, or the Chinese State Family Planning Commission, to observe and inspect their work; and if he will make a statement;(2) on what occasions his officials have visited China with the purpose of inspecting the effects of Chinese population control policies at district and factory level; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answers 25 October 1993]: As previously explained, the main source of information about the Chinese Family Planning Association is the International Planned Parenthood Federation. Additional information on Chinese family planning policies is obtained from officials of the British embassy in Peking.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what sums have been budgeted as the Overseas Development Administration's contribution to the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities for the next three years.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: The level of the United Kingdom contributions we provide to each of these organisations in 1994–95 is under consideration. We provide funds one year at a time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information has been supplied to him by the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities regarding the detailed budgets and activities funded by the IPPF and UNFPA annual donations in support of the Chinese population control policy; and if such information is confidential;(2) when the Overseas Development Administration became a participant at the International Planned Parenthood Federation annual doners meeting;

[holding answers 25 October 1993]: We have participated regularly in IPPF annual donors meetings since these started in 1971, and have funded UNFPA's global activities since 1968. UNFPA and IPPF provide donors with full details of their budgets and programmes in China.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the recent meeting between Dr. Halfdan Mahler and officials of his Department following the former's visit to China in February.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: Officials discussed with Dr. Mahler a range of issues, including the question of coercion in China's family planning programmes, the quality of reproductive health care in China, and the role of IPPF and the Chinese Family Planning Association.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information he has regarding the physical damage to Chinese who attempt to remove intra-uterine devices inserted by law; and what information he has on the levels of fines levied on women who are found to have illegally removed IUDs or illegally avoided their insertion;(2) what information the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Fund for Population Activities provided to his Department regarding regional laws and district-regional governing of Chinese population control.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: We have received a number of reports on family planning legislation in China and are aware 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 if he will list the factors taken into account by his Department in providing aid to organisations working in the field of population control.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: The Overseas Development Administration aims to promote the ability of women and men to exercise free choice about when to have children, and to improve reproductive health. Funds are provided to a number of non-government and international agencies which share these goals and which are categorically opposed to all forms of coercion in family planning programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what information he has regarding the activities of the Chinese Family Planning Association in Tibet;(2) what response he is making to the Campaign Free Tibet publication, "Children of Despair", a copy of which has been sent to him.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: We maintain a regular dialogue with the International Planned Parenthood Federation about the role and activities of the Chinese Family Planning Association. We will continue to raise with the Chinese authorities our concern about reports of human rights abuses in Tibet and elsewhere in China.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement regarding his investigation into the practice of infanticide, in China and Tibet, of babies born without state permission.

[holding answer 25 October 1993]: We are aware of allegations of infanticide in China, but have obtained no further information which enables us to relate these allegations to Chinese Government policy.

To ask the Prime Minister what recent representations he has from the north west assembly of the Pensioners Liaison Forum about retirement pensions; what reply he is sending; and if he will make a statement.

I have received a petition. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security will be arranging for a reply to be sent on my behalf.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will provide a full list of the developments referred to as Eurolunacies in page 3 of his booklet, "The European Community: Facts and Fairytales".

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs has said in the foreward to the booklet, everyone has their own favourite story about the European Community. We all have our own ideas of things that we think the Community should not be doing. We have set out in the booklet some genuine examples of apparently unnecessary or even ridiculous Community rules, which we describe as "Eurolunacies".

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what the British Government are doing to ensure that human rights are respected in Sudan and that the current violation of human rights is stopped;(2) what the British Government are doing to further the peace process in Sudan and to bring the fighting to an end.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on 18 October at column 79 to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Small Heath (Mr. Godsiff).

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications of the presentation on regional nuclear non-proliferation in south and east Asia made by the United States Secretary of State to the annual meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Association of South-East Asian Nations and their dialogue partners in Singapore on 26 July for the security of Hong Kong; and if he will make a statement.

The United States Secretary of State devoted part of his statement at the Association of South East Asian Nations post-ministerial conference in July to regional security issues. He stressed the United States commitment to nuclear non-proliferation and said that the United States would continue to work with the nations of the region to maintain a peaceful and secure Asia. The achievement of their objective is in the interests of the whole region, including Hong Kong.