To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers; and how many vehicles are involved.

The Lord Chancellor's Department provides cars for the Lord Chancellor and myself. The annual cost of providing this service is £119,184 (for the year to November 1993). The cost includes two vehicles maintained on a permanent basis and a limousine as required.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is Her Majesty's Government's policy in relation to United Kingdom ratification of the Hague convention on succession.

In March 1990, following the opening of the Hague convention on succession for signature in 1988, the Government issued a consultation paper to obtain views as to whether the United Kingdom should, with a view to ratification, amend its rules as to which law governs succession to a deceased person's estate to bring them into line with the rules in the convention. The response did not indicate a large degree of support for United Kingdom ratification and there was some opposition. The Government therefore decided not to proceed further at present, but the matter is being kept under review. So far only two other member states have signed the convention and there have been no ratifications.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what plans he has to seek a change in the civil law to allow actions in the English courts for compensation for torture inflicted overseas in violation of international law and enforcement of judgment in the United Kingdom.

There are no plans to amend the law in the way referred to. Under the present law there are circumstances in which a victim of wrongful conduct abroad may sue in England: the jurisdictional rules vary according to the country in which the wrongful conduct took place. A judgment of an English court awarding compensation in such a case will be enforceable throughout the United Kingdom and in certain other countries.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total budget allocated by his Department in 1992–93 to urban development corporations in (a) Teesside, (b) Tyne and Wear and (c) the United Kingdom as a whole.

The answer is as follows:

(a) £40·3 million grant in aid;

(b) £44·1 million grant in aid;

(c) the 12 English urban development corporations and the docklands light railway) received grant in aid of £515·8 million.

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales and for Northern Ireland are responsible for grant in aid paid to the Cardiff Bay and Laganside development corporations respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he has incorporated the code of practice for information security management, published by the British Standards Institution, into relevant contracts with information technology suppliers.

The security requirements for IT systems and services used by central Government Departments are stated in the Government IT security policy document. This documenht is supported by the use of the CCTA risk analysis and management method (CRAMM) and baseline security for IT systems (BSITS) risk analysis methods, and by supporting advice and guidance published by the Government IT security authorities. These have been developed specifically for use within government and are regularly reviewed to ensure best practice. The code of practice for information security management was developed by and established for use by commercial organisations and does not specifically address the requirements for the protection of official information.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what changes he is considering in connection with the council tax system; and when he expects to make an announcement.

My Department is presently consulting the local authority associations about regulations to give an effect to the scheme of transitional reductions for 1994–95 announced by my right hon. Friend on 2 December, and about some minor changes to the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992. I have sent copies of the consultation letters to the hon. Member and I am arranging for copies to be placed in the Library of the House. A number of suggestions have also been put to us for small changes to the secondary legislation covering council tax exemptions and discounts, and we are considering these.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to help the severely mentally impaired living in the community with their council tax.

Severely mentally impaired people are not counted towards the personal element of the council tax.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received about the cost to builders of building and associated products.

I have received no direct representations.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consideration his Department will give, in making the final decision concerning THORP, to the current status of the negotiations between BNFL and Nuclear Electric or Scottish Nuclear over spent nuclear fuel contracts for THORP.

All relevant consideration will be taken into account by my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for the Environment and the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in reaching their decision.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the incinerators in the north west licensed to incinerate BSE-infected cattle and scrapie-infected sheep; and how many such carcasses were destroyed in each of the last 12 months at each incinerator.

Under part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 clinical waste incinerators with a capacity of 1 tonne or more an hour require authorisation by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution and those with a lesser capacity require an authorisation from the relevant local authority.Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has to date authorised no clinical waste incinerators in the north west. From the statistical information collected by my Department, 41 incinerators with a capacity of under 1 tonne an hour were authorised by local authorities in the north west by the end of June 1993. My Department does not hold a central list of these incinerators. However, it is likely that most of these will be incinerators burning clinical waste. Information about each incinerator, including a copy of the application for authorisation, must be included in a public register held by each local authority for the processes for which it is responsible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he has taken to ensure that, when putting contracts out to tender, his Department includes on the tender list companies which have acquired the BS5750 quality assurance standard.

My Department fully recognises the value of BS5750 as a quality assurance standard but it does not make this, as a matter of course, a prerequisite for tendering in order to allow small firms, for which the cost of certification can represent a burden, the opportunity to compete.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the Government will support the establishment of a leasehold enfranchisement advisory service.

I am pleased to announce that the Government has approved the application from the Leasehold Reform Co-ordinating Committee for financial assistance to enable the Leasehold Enfranchisement Advisory Service for England and Wales to be established. The Department of the Environment has agreed to make a grant through its special grants programme of £27,575 in 1993–94 and £73,000 in 1994–95. The Welsh Office will also contribute £1,000 in 1994–95. I anticipate that similar amounts will be made available for 1995–96, subject to the satisfactory performance of the service.In addition, they have received offers of support for the service from private sector organisations worth over £35,000 per annum.The aim of the agency will be to provide information to the large number of leaseholders whom we anticipate will wish to take advantage of the provisions contained in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 which took effect on 1 November. These enable qualifying leaseholders either to purchase jointly the freehold of their flats or to purchase new long leases.I expect the service to have a very important role to play in advising both landlords and tenants about the necessarily complex procedures involved in exercising these new rights.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if there will be transitional costs arising from local government reorganisation.

[holding answer 6 December 1993]: There will be some start-up costs associated with reorganisation, which we expect authorities to keep to an absolute minimum, and which in the longer term can be offset against savings arising locally from the reorganisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what arrangements he has made to ensure that local authorities and council tax payers not involved in local government reorganisations are protected from any transitional costs resulting from areas that are reorganised.

[holding answer 6 December 1993]: Transitional reorganisation costs will be incurred only by those authorities in the areas that are reorganised. As my right hon. Friend announced to the House on 2 December, we intend that authorities should be able to meet by borrowing any such costs incurred by them in 1994–95, and that any borrowing should be repaid from savings or sales of assets after reorganisation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he has given to publishing (a) a full or (b) an abridged version of the chief of the intelligence services' annual report to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

The Intelligence Bill provides for the Prime Minister to lay before Parliament annual reports by both the Intelligence Services Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Committee. We do not intend to publish the annual report of the chief of the Secret Intelligence Service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the Ministers in his Department who since June 1987 have visited (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Malaysia, (c) Singapore and (d) South Africa on official business; and which such visits included party political activities in addition to official duties.

Since June 1987 Foreign and Commonwealth Office Ministers have made the following visits to (a) Saudi Arabia (b) Malaysia (c) Singapore and (d) South Africa:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the meeting of the CSCE of Ministers in Rome.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs represented the United Kingdom at the Council meeting of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe which took place on 30 November and 1 December in Rome.The Council decided to develop the CSCE's capabilities in conflict prevention, crisis management and in combating aggressive nationalism. Ministers endorsed arrangements for more comprehensive monitoring and oversight of peacekeeping forces deployed in Georgia. In this and other conflicts oversight and monitoring must ensure that third party military forces are deployed with the consent of the parties, respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of CSCE states, are impartial and multinational in character, have a clear mandate and are integrally linked to a political process. There must be a plan for their orderly withdrawal.The Council welcomed the resumption of peace talks in Geneva on the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. They urged the parties to take advantage of the initiative represented by the European Union action plan and called for the early, unconditional return of CSCE missions to Kosovo, Sandjak and Vojvodina. The Council emphasised that the CSCE stood ready, in co-operation with others, to rebuild civic society.I regret that despite intensive negotiations the Council was unable to agree on any new steps to resolve the conflict dealt with by the Conference on Nagorno-Karabakh. Ministers asked the Chairman of the Minsk Conference to explore urgently the possibility of providing new impetus to the peace process.The Council welcomed the withdrawal of Russian troops from Lithuania and stressed the political significance of speedy withdrawal of those remaining in Estonia and Latvia. The Council called for an early, orderly and complete withdrawal of the Russian 14th Army from Moldova and expressed concern at the lack of progress in finding a political solution to the problems of the Transdniester region. The Council decided to establish a CSCE mission to Tadjikstan to promote respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law.The Council reiterated the fundamental importance of respect for human rights and decided to strengthen the CSCE's instruments of conflict prevention and early warning in this context. The Council decided to enhance the role of the High Commissioner on National Minorities and to strengthen the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, for example in its ability to monitor elections.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list for each civil service grade in his Department (a) the total number of people employed, (b) the total number of black people and (c) the total number of Asians.

As at 1 April 1993, the number of persons employed in each grade level (ie including equivalent grades) within the Department (including agencies) and the number of those who had classified themselves as being black people and as being Asian were:

	Total staff at grade level	Total classified as black people	Total classified as Asians
Grades 1-4	167	—	—
Grade 5	370	1	1
Grade 6	123	—	1
Grade 7	865	—	2
Senior executive officer	676	3	4
Higher executive officer	1,511	3	11
Executive officer	2,736	14	28
Adminstrative officer/Administrative assistant	3,329	105	71
Industrial staff	63	1	2

These figures exclude staff who have classified themselves as being of other ethnic origin. There is no compulsion on staff to report their ethnic origin; the response rate for the staff in this answer is about 80 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what advice is given to officials about when to use the terms (a) European Union, (b) European Community and (c) European Economic Community.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer that my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs gave to the hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Cash) on 2 December at column 680.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Saudi Arabian Government about delays in the payment of refunds of pension contributions to the Saudi Arabian General Organisation for Social Insurance due to British subjects.

Our embassy in Riyadh is in regular contact with the Saudi Arabian General Organisation for Social Insurance about payment of refunds to British subjects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consult with Welsh representative on the Committee of the Regions before he goes to the European Union summit in Brussels.

My hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will see the Welsh representatives at a meeting with all United Kingdom nominees to the Committee of the Regions on 8 December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action he has taken to encourage dialogue between China and Tibet on the future of Tibet; and if he will make it his policy to ensure that the option of Tibetan independence is on the agenda of such dialogue.

We have consistently urged the Chinese authorities to begin talks, without pre-conditions, with the Tibetans, including the Dalai Lama, and to allow Tibetans greater autonomy. It is for the parties concerned to decide the agenda for such talks. Neither we nor our European partners believe that independence is a realistic option.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give the names and nationality of each member of a delegation of the International Commission of Jurists who visited Kashmir in August; if he will arrange for their report to be placed in the Library; and if he will make a statement.

The members of the delegation from the International Commission of Jurists who visited Kashmir in August were Sir William Goodhart from the United Kingdom, Professor Vitit Muntarbhorn from Thailand, Dr. Dalmo Dallari from Brazil and Mrs. Florence Butegwa from Uganda. Their report is expected in January. As soon as a copy is available we will arrange for it to be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's policy regarding exports to (a) Israel, (b) Iran, (c) Iraq, (d) Syria, (e) Kuwait, (f) Saudi Arabia, (g) Jordan and (h) Egypt.

I have been asked to reply.Apart from Iraq, which is subject to a UN trade embargo and where special arrangements therefore apply, United Kingdom exporters are free, and indeed encouraged, to trade with the countries listed. However, goods covered by the Export of Goods Control Order 1992, as amended, are subject to various restrictions, which will vary from country to country.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many visits abroad the Chief Secretary to the Treasury has made during 1993; and what was (a) the cost to public funds and (b) the purpose of each visit.

I made a visit to Mexico and Chile from 3-11 July. The purpose of the visit was to strengthen the United Kingdom's relations with the two countries, and to promote trade and investment: several British businessmen accompanied me. Two of the companies represented on the visit have since won major contracts. British Gas was awarded the investment distribution concession for the US$1·1 billion natural gas pipeline between Argentina and Chile. North West Water signed in September a £285 million 10-year contract with the Mexico City authorities for metering, billing and management services.The cost attributable to my own participation in the visit, which was borne by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, was £5,526.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the latest figures for the proportion of gross domestic product paid in (a) income tax and (b) income tax plus value added tax, for each country in the European Union.

International comparisons of income tax and VAT receipts are not readily available. However, figures for taxes on personal income and for taxes on general consumption as a share of GDP can be found in tables 10 and 28 of the 1993 edition of Revenue Statistics of OECD member countries, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer by what date the United Kingdom is obliged under the terms of relevant European directives and other agreements to cease to zero-rate each of those categories of goods and services which benefit from such zero rating; what levels of value added tax within the United Kingdom would be able or obliged to apply to each of those different categories of goods and services after that date; and if he will make a statement.

The United Kingdom is not obliged under any EC directive or other agreement to cease current zero rates of VAT.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has to harmonise United Kingdom value added tax rates with those which pertain in other European countries; by what date; and if he will make a statement.

I have no proposals to harmonise value added tax rates in the United Kingdom with those charged in other European countries.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the Government's long-term plans for the zero rating for value added tax purposes of the sale of new houses.

My right hon. and learned Friend said in his Budget statement that he had no proposals to make any changes to the VAT base.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if (a) VAT for goods and services currently zero rated and (b) VAT for goods and services currently exempt are included in his definition of the tax base.

No.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the tax yield in a full year of 3 per cent. tax on private health insurance premiums.

[holding answer 6 December 1993]: Private health insurance premia are included within the accident and health category of insurance premia. The yield from tax at 3 per cent. on all insurance premia in this category is estimated to be about £100 million in 1995–96.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) when he will make funds available for London Underground to commence Work on line renewal of the Northern line;(2) when he will make funds available for London Underground to commence work on replacement of escalators at St. Paul's, Notting Hill Gate, Highgate and Marylebone stations;(3) when he will make funds available for London Underground Ltd. to be able to commence work on the renewal of signalling systems on the Hammersmith, Circle and District lines.

London Transport's grant settlement for the three years to 1994–95 was announced on 30 November. Decisions on the timing of individual investment projects are for the management of London Transport and London Underground.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to authorise the construction of the North Greenwich station on the Jubilee line.

This will depend on completion of negotiations between London Underground Limited and British Gas on a financial contribution by British Gas to the costs involved.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received from London Underground regarding projects considered essential for the delivery of a proper service to its customers.

I am regularly briefed by London Underground on many aspects of its investment programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who will be the regulator for the railways industry; and when he will officially begin his duties.

I have appointed Mr. John Swift QC as rail regulator and international rail regulator. Parliamentary approval to new expenditure on administrative and other costs of the regulator will be sought in a new estimate to establish an Office of the Rail Regulator Vote (Class VI, Vote 8). Pending that approval, urgent expenditure estimated at £500,000 will be met by repayable advances from the Contingencies Fund.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many written representations he has received about the proposed link roads alongside the M25 between junctions 12 and 16; and how many of these came from (a) residents of Staines and (b) other residents of the Spelthorne constituency.

Some 4,250 individual letters have been received in response to public consultations on proposals for link roads between junctions 12 and 16 of the M25. Of these, 263 came from addresses in Staines and 114 from Ashford, Ashford Common, Laleham, Poyle, Shepperton, Stanwell, Stanwell Moor and Sunbury. In addition, some 8,500 pre-printed postcards were received during the consultations and other correspondence has been received subsequently but no statistics have been compiled about the origins of these.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many written representations he has received about the proposals contained in the Heathrow and south-west quadrant orbital movements study—HASQUAD—report; and how many of these came from (a) residents of Sunbury on Thames and (b) other residents of the Spelthorne constituency.

To date some 1,700 written representations have been received, of which about 125 were from residents of Sunbury on Thames and about 30 were from other residents of the hon. Gentleman's constituency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to be in a position to decide on the future of the proposals contained in the Heathrow and south-west quadrant orbital movements study—HASQUAD—proposals.

I hope to make an announcement on the future of the HASQUAD study recommendations at the earliest opportunity, after I have been able to give careful consideration to all the comments received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what rate of return on (a) existing and (b) new investment he is asking Railtrack to achieve.

We are currently discussing with Railtrack the setting of appropriate financial targets including the required rate of return on investment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total value of assets transferring to the ownership of Railtrack on 1 April 1994.

British Rail, in conjunction with Railtrack and its auditors, is presently working on the identification of the assets to be transferred to Railtrack, and the values to be ascribed to them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if his Department will promote the increased use of the River Thames for transporting London's waste to points of disposal.

The River Thames working group, which I chair, is examining the benefits and potential of maximising all types of traffic on the River Thames, including the transportation of waste. The working group is expected to produce and publish its recommendations next summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to ensure that when putting contracts out to tender his Department includes on the tender list companies which have acquired the BS5750 quality assurance standard.

Most of my Department's contracts are placed with the road construction industry.Several firms within the industry have already introduced recognised quality management schemes on a voluntary basis but the number to have done so is not yet sufficient to ensure proper competition if such schemes were mandatory.For that reason it is not yet a departmental requirement that firms invited to tender for roadworks contracts must have such schemes in place.However, my Department is working towards the gradual introduction of quality management requirements within the framework of BS5750. As a first step, we are proposing to introduce quality plans for individual contracts starting next year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department received a request from the Campaign for Freedom of Information for information about the environmental aspects of transporting nuclear materials; when a reply was sent; and if he will make a statement on the time scale.

A request was received by the Department on 30 September 1993 and acknowledged on 12 October. I expect that a full reply will be sent within the next five days.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list by year since 1979 the number of children killed as a result of road traffic accidents (a) before attending school in the morning and (b) after school had ceased in the afternoon when clocks were set at (i) Greenwich mean time and (ii) British summer time.

I regret that the information requested is not available. Road casualty statistics do not distinguish between school days and holidays.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what evidence he has as to the consequences of adding additional lanes to existing motorways for the risks of death and serious injury resulting from multiple or other types of accident.

Available evidence from existing four-lane motorways in Britain does not suggest that accident rates are significantly different on them as compared with three-lane motorways. Motorways are widened to increase capacity and so relieve congestion. If this were not done more vehicles would be forced on to all-purpose roads where the accident rate is significantly higher.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who is carrying out the current survey of staff attitudes at the Vehicle Inspectorate; and what is the cost.

The current staff attitude survey is being conducted by Peratee Ltd. at a cost of £6,000 plus VAT. Peratee Ltd. are advising the Vehicle Inspectorate on the adoption of total quality management practice. The survey is part of a wider contract the total cost of which is £59,000 + VAT.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total number of staff employed at the Vehicle Inspectorate for each year since 1990.

The average number of staff employed by the Vehicle Inspectorate in each of the last three financial years is as follows:

	Number
1990–91	1,653
1991–92	11,879
1992–93	1,861
1 This includes 255 staff from the Traffic Enforcement Organisation which was integrated into the inspectorate in April 1991.

Staff numbers are expressed as full-time equivalents.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total number of vehicles inspected by the Vehicle Inspectorate for each year since 1990.

This data has been published in the VI Annual Report and Accounts for 1992–93, a copy of which has been deposited in the House of Commons Library. With the exception of five small schemes, the relevant data are summarised in the table.

Inspections	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Annual tests
HGV vehicles	778,693	587,252	578,499
HGV trailers	272,117	268,270	266,485
PSVs	85,558	85,907	87,484
HGV notifiable alterations	20,029	15,882	21,498
PSV notifiable alterations	3,102	2,926	2,200
Class IV, V and ambulances	13,397	12,168	13,228
Class VII	—	81,546	44,484
Roadworthiness enforcement
HGVs inspected at roadside	112,661	117,477	126,370
PSVs inspected at roadside	20,527	21,106	24,895
Private and LGVs inspected at roadside	12,405	35,231	31,176

Inspections	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93
Operator licensing
HGV number of vehicles inspected	59,085	60,974	62,093
PSV number of vehicles inspected	6,786	7,288	8,128
Traffic enforcement
HGVs examined	281,140	266,746	295,124
PSVs examined	32,584	33,778	40,508
Total	1,698,084	1,596,551	1,602,172

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what was the total equipment budget for the Vehicle Inspectorate for each year since 1990.

The budget for capital expenditure on equipment is summarised below. The budget covers the purchase of testing equipment such as roller brake testers, load simulators and smoke meters. The budget includes spare parts, but does not include staff and other costs involved in maintaining the equipment.

Year	Budget
1990–91	1,542,795
1991–92	1,911,100
1992–93	2,110,700

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the estimated saving to the Exchequer of the repeal of the disabled passenger scheme for exemptions from vehicle excise duty.

There were around 20,000 beneficiaries in the disabled passengers scheme at the date of repeal on 13 October 1993. These disabled people will continue to benefit from exemption from vehicle excise duty (VED) for as long as their disability remains. There were around 4,000 new applications per year at the time of repeal, so the estimated saving to the Exchequer is about £500,000 in the first year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will place in the Library a copy of the final decision by the Council of Ministers on TERN.

I have today placed in the House Libraries copies of the Council decision on the creation of a trans-European road network.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the growth in traffic on the A41 at Aston Clinton since the opening of the Berkhamsted-Kings Langley bypass; and if he will make a statement.

None, but traffic counts indicate an additional 2,700 vehicles per day (average 16-hour weekday) an increase of 13·5 per cent. above figures taken before completion of Berkhamsted-Kings Langley bypass.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement about the design standards proposed or applied to the various sections of the east-west route for which his Department has published proposals or which have already been opened to traffic;(2) what plans he has to review his Department's traffic forecasts for the east-west route following the inclusion of the route in the trans-European road network; and if he will make a statement;(3) whether he plans to upgrade the design standards of all or any part of the east-west route following its inclusion in the trans-European road network; and if he will make a statement.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply that I gave him on 24 November at column 60. Inclusion in the TERN has no bearing on the standards or volume of traffic on the route.

To ask the Secretary of State, if he will list the smallest number of separate identification numbers that a person with a driving licence can have; and how many persons are employed in the various Departments of state to administer these separate registers, stating the number employed in each case.

For driving licence purposes the "driver number" is the only identification number required. It is automatically generated by computer when a driving licence is issued and requires no additional staff effort. There is no link between the driver number and any other identification number.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether he has incorporated the code of practice for information security management, published by the British Standards Institution, into relevant contracts with information technology suppliers.

The security requirements for IT systems and services used by central Government

Date	Location	Purpose	1Travel
22 January 1993	Republic of Ireland	Attend inter-governmental conference	£5,708·16
31 March 1993	Republic of Ireland	Attend football international	£3,781·84
1-8 May 1993	USA	Promoting Northern Ireland	£19,570·17
25 May 1993	Republic of Ireland	Attend inter-governmental conference	£5,706·33
26-27 July 1993	Republic of Ireland	Speaking engagements	£3,515·40
11 November 1993	France	Wreath laying ceremony on behalf of Her Majesty's Government at the Somme	£1,360·00
		Total expenditure	£39,277·90
1 These figures are for travel costs of the Secretary of State and, where applicable, accompanying officials.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement about the operation of his Department's sensitive documents unit; how many staff are employed in its operation; and approximately how many documents per annum come within its purview.

There is no sensitive document unit in the Northern Ireland Office or in any of the Northern Ireland Departments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many mink farms have operated in each county in Northern Ireland in each year since 1984; and how many there are at present.

There has only ever been one licensed mink farm in Northern Ireland. It was situated in Co. Down and was in operation during the period from 1984 to 1991. There are no licensed mink farms in Northern Ireland at present.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many visits abroad he has made during 1993; and what was (a) the cost to public funds of each visit and (b) the purpose of each visit.

[holding answer 1 December 1993]: I have made six visits abroad in 1993, to 1 December. The available information requested is:

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if the changes of rules for television franchises will exempt Tyne Tees/Yorkshire because of his announced two-franchise limit; and if he will make a statement.

Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Holdings plc owns two companies, which each hold a regional ITV licence. If the Broadcasting (Restrictions on the Holding of Licences) (Amendment) Order 1993 is approved, the present limit on the holding of only two licences to provide regional ITV services would remain, although only one London licence could be held. If the holder of another ITV regional licence wanted to own Yorkshire-Tyne Tees Holdings, it would have to make arrangements to keep within the limit of two licences.

To ask the Secretary of State for NationalHeritage what plans he has to visit Liverpool to discuss the museums in the city; and if he will make a statement.

I have no plans to visit Liverpool at the present time. Since taking office, however, I have visited both the Walker art gallery and the Liverpool museum, and have also been to the Lady Lever art gallery and the Tate gallery, Liverpool.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how often he has visited Liverpool since he was appointed.

Twice.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what information he has concerning the extent to which United Kingdom television producers are currently using facilities in the Republic of Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 6 December 1993]: Successive Governments have refrained from interfering in questions of television programme content and production. This is a matter for the broadcasters concerned, so long as they act within the law.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list the official visits by himself and his predecessor to (a) Saudi Arabia, (b) Malaysia and (c) Singapore since June 1987; and which such visits included party political activities in addition to official duties.

Official visits were made to Saudi Arabia in January 1991, March 1991 and January 1993; to Malaysia in August 1988, October 1989 (for CHOGM) and September 1993; and to Singapore in August 1988. The official visits made by my right hon. and noble Friend were a matter for her. Since November 1990 each of my visits to the countries concerned have been entirely for official purposes.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 30 November, Official Report, column 419, which charitable or other non-official organisations or groups have been notified that they may organise events at No. 10 Downing street under the financial arrangements described in his answer.

I have nothing to add to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) on 30 November 1993 at columns 418-19.

To ask the Prime Minister, if he will list those who have resigned, retired or been dismissed from ministerial office in the past 10 years and the severance pay in (i) cash and (ii) current prices paid to each one.

As the Financial Secretary explained on 28 October in his reply to a question from the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen), the Parliamentary Pensions Act 1984 introduced severance payments for Ministers and other paid office holders in the House of Lords, subject to the conditions set out in the Act. The Ministerial and Other Pensions and Salaries Act 1991 extended the provision to Commons Ministers and other paid office holders in neither House.Although no composite list is kept, we have identified from our records the following occasions on which severance payments have been authorised since 31 July 1984. In each case the severance payment would have been equal to three months of the relevant ministerial salary, as provided for by the Act.

To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee how many additional fire doors have been constructed (a) in the Palace of Westminster and (b) in the outbuildings in each of the last three years; what circumstances resulted in additional fire doors being built; what were the costs to the Exchequer; and how many additional fire doors are planned for the current year.

This is a matter for the Director of Works and I will ask him to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee how many beds are available for use by House of Commons staff; what are the criteria for their use; if he will list the numbers of beds at each location; and what is the annual cost of laundry for staff beds.

This is a matter for the Serjeant at Arms. I will ask him to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what assessment was made of worker safety in respect of the return of staff to the Library in the summer recess while asbestos clearing work was being undertaken; and if he will make a statement.

The work to remove asbestos from the Library was carried out by a firm on the approved list for asbestos removal. It was undertaken in accordance with strict guidelines and procedures laid down by the Health and Safety Executive, on the basis of a professional assessment that there would be no danger to staff in the Library.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish a table showing for each LINK programme (a) its year of commencement, (b) its total expenditure, (c) its expenditure in each year of operation, (d) the number of projects in each programme and (e) the planned expenditure for 1993–94.

I have been asked to reply.The table shows Government expenditure for each LINK programme. Figures given for 1993–94 are for the period April to September 1993; the whole year expenditure estimate is £30 million. Government expenditure on LINK programmes is at least matched by industry.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps he is taking to encourage manufacturers to produce products which make use of recycled materials.

In recent years, the main encouragement for manufacturers to use recycled materials in their products has come from customer demand, as members of the public take account of this environmental consideration when making their purchasing decisions. Many Government Departments have helped to encourage demand by themselves specifying recycled content in their purchases of stationery and other supplies. The Department of Trade and Industry is funding a number of projects aimed at identifying new end-uses for secondary raw materials, such as glass, plastics and rubber, and is addressing the issue of product standards to seek to remove any unnecessary discrimination against the use of recycled material.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total budget allocated by his Department during 1992–93 to (a) Business Advice Gateshead, (b) Business Advice Newcastle, (c) Business Advice North Tyneside, (d) Business Advice South Tyneside, (e) Entrust, Newcastle upon Tyne, (f) Gateshead Business Team, (g) Blaydon Business Centre, (h) Marketing Advice Centre, Newcastle and (i) Sunderland Business and Enterprise Centre.

The figures are as follows:

(a) Nil;

(b) Nil;

(c) Nil:

(d) Nil;

(e) £218,538;

(f) Nil;

(g) Nil;

(h) Nil;

(i) Nil.

My Department was not the primary source of funding for these organisations in 1992–93. The training and enterprise councils (TECs) and local authorities provided core funding for the business advice centres and during this period my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Employment made provision for the TECs in her Estimates.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total budget allocated by his Department during 1992–93 to (a) the business advice centres in Cleveland, Cumbria, Northumberland and Tyne and Wear and (b) the eight enterprise agencies in County Durham.

The figures are as follows:

(a) £105,778

(b) £21,350

My Department was not the primary source of funding for these organisations in 1992–93. The training and enterprise councils (TECS) and local authorities provided core funding for the regional business advice centres and the enterprise agencies operating in County Durham. During this period my right hon. Friend the then Secretary of State for Employment made provision for the TECs in her Estimates.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the budget allocated by his Department during 1992–93 to (a) the Derwentside Industrial development agency, (b) the Shildon and Sedgefield development agency, (c) the East Durham Development Company, (d) the County Durham development agency, (e) the Northern Development Company Ltd., (f) the Teesside development corporation, (g) the Tyne and Wear development corporation, (h) the Tyne and Wear Development Company Ltd. and (i) the West Cumbria development agency.

The figures are as follows:

(a) nil

(b) nil

(c) £59,855

(d) nil

(e) £1,723,500

(f) nil

(g) nil

(h) nil

(i) nil

My Department is not the primary source of funding for these organisations. The regional and sub-regional development agencies listed are funded through a combination of local authority and, in some cases, private sector contributions. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment makes provision for the urban development corporations in his Estimates.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he has incorporated the code of practice for information security management, published by the British Standards Institution, into relevant contracts with information technology suppliers.

Invitations to tender issued by the Department for information technology goods and services include details of any relevant IT security requirements with which the supplier must comply. Those requirements are developed in accordance with cental Government IT security standards and best practice. One factor for consideration can be security within the supplier's own environment. The Department has welcomed the code of practice for information security management as a practical guide to effective information security management and, where a supplier has adopted and implemented the code, this will be evidence that security is taken seriously.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many local authorities have submitted bids under the Konver programme; and if he will make a statement.

Fifty-eight.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the allocations under the Konver programme to the United Kingdom and France; if he will make representations to ensure that the United Kingdom obtains a fairer proportion of EC defence diversification moneys; and if he will make a statement.

The Government expressed concern to the European Commission in May and June 1993 about the latter's method of allocation of 1993 Konver grant. The Commission acknowledged that the method and data used were imperfect. In any future Konver initiative the Commission would take account of data provided by the Government.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total revenue raised from auction sale of equipment of the Scottish calibration centre.

The recent auction of equipment at NEL was not confined solely to the sales equipment from the Scottish Calibration Centre which was closed in September, it involved the disposal of equipment which had become surplus to a wide range of National Engineering Laboratory activities. The total net proceeds from the sale at auction was £180,725 of which £91,850 represented the sale of equipment which had formerly been used in the Scottish calibration centre.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his estimate of the annual turnover of car boot sales in the United Kingdom.

No information is available on the turnover of car boot sales in the United Kingdom.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what contracts for technical and technological advice and research have been placed with external consultants since 1 April 1992; what was the total cost; and which such research was commissioned from agencies outside the United Kingdom.

My Department does not classify consultancy contracts in terms of their activity or the contractors country of origin, and the information requested cannot be provided other than at disproportionate cost.