To ask the Secretary of State for Education (1) what plans he has to ensure that parents living within the London borough of Wandsworth will continue to have the right to choose the school of their choice for their children to attend; and what discussions he has had with the borough about this matter;(2) what discussions he is having with the London Borough of Wandsworth about selective entry schools in the borough; what plans he has to ensure that such schools will still take children of mixed ability; and if he will make a statement.

Under section 8 of the Education Act 1944, local education authorities have a duty to ensure that there are sufficient schools to provide education for all pupils in their area taking account of their age, ability and aptitude. This will continue to be the case under the Education Act 1993 until the sole responsibility for ensuring a sufficiency of schools in the primary or secondary phase, as the case may be, passes to the Funding Agency for Schools under the provisions of section 12 of that Act.My right hon. Friend will continue to consider on their merits any proposals by Wandsworth council to implement its policy of diversity and choice in the borough's schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the value of capital assets held by local education authorities; and which are held for the purposes of individual schools and which are occupied for other purposes.

The replacement capital value of local education authority school buildings in England is estimated to be £36·8 billion million. This includes the cost of furniture and equipment and building design fees. Additionally the land value of school sites is estimated to be £3·8 billion. Information is not held centrally on the extent to which schools are occupied for other purposes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to his answer of 1 December, Official Report, column 571, if he will list the supply of goods and services incidental to the supply of education by sixth form colleges and further education colleges which are exempt from value added tax.

Item 4 of group 6, schedule 6 to the Value Added Tax Act 1983, as amended, specifies that the supply of any goods or services incidental to the provision of any education or training provided by a college in the FEFC sector is exempt from VAT. Her Majesty's Customs and Excise VAT leaflet 701/30/87, which is available in the Library, gives examples of the type of incidental goods and services covered by this exemption. They include educational materials such as pens, ink and exercise books, most catering supplies and accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what was the number of primary school children in (a) January 1992 and (b) January 1993, being taught: in classes of more than 30; and what was the percentage change.

In January 1992 there were 1,075,000 pupils in classes of more than 30 in maintained primary schools in England compared with 1,142,000—provisional—in January 1993, a rise of 6 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is his latest estimate of the proportion of three-year-olds in local authority nursery education classes.

Latest figures show that in England 39 per cent. of children aged three at the beginning of the 1992–93 school year were being taught in maintained—local education authority and grant-maintained—nursery schools and nursery classes in January 1993 when the annual pupil count is conducted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what amount has been requested by way of capital credit approval for each local education authority in 1994–95.

The information requested is in the table. The figures are taken from the capital plans for 1994–95 submitted by each local education authority to the Department.

LEA	Total capital bid 1994–95(£000)
Barking	5,409
Barnet	11,514
Bexley	6,881
Brent	4,675
Bromley	9,937
Croydon	7,613
Ealing	40,012
Enfield	6,656
Haringey	15,688
Harrow	11,156
Havering	8,665
Hillingdon	9,349
Hounslow	11,959
Kingston	1,747
Merton	10,050
Newham	11,379
Redbridge	3,733
Richmond	4,490
Sutton	5,049
Waltham	10,085
City	0
Camden	1,544
Westminster	475

LEA	Total capital bid 1994–95(£000)
Greenwich	8,101
Hackney	8,438
Hammersmith	2,775
Islington	9,135
Kensington	2,919
Lambeth	9,703
Lewisham	23,049
Southwark	6,263
Wandsworth	11,856
Tower Hamlets	25,560
Birmingham	51,514
Coventry	4,087
Dudley	6,090
Sandwell	9,685
Solihull	5,325
Walsall	6,218
Wolverhampton	11,465
Knowsley	13,496
Liverpool	15,662
St. Helens	5,544
Sefton	3,445
Wirral	6,098
Bolton	4,180
Bury	3,536
Manchester	49,217
Oldham	7,815
Rochdale	14,464
Salford	13,104
Stockport	2,115
Tameside	11,031
Trafford	6,292
Wigan	5,055
Barnsley	4,198
Doncaster	6,178
Rotherham	2,792
Sheffield	36,617
Bradford	37,329
Calderdale	5,275
Kirklees	9,499
Leeds	26,671
Wakefield	27,991
Gateshead	5,488
Newcastle	29,483
North Tyneside	11,510
South Tyneside	7,000
Sunderland	6,373
Isles of Scilly	94
Avon	12,314
Bedfordshire	5,888
Berkshire	13,267
Buckinghamshire	14,981
Cambridgeshire	25,235
Cheshire	21,141
Cleveland	11,683
Cornwall	16,030
Cumbria	25,037
Derybshire	36,317
Devon	25,526
Dorset	22,612
Durham	53,165
East Sussex	38,458
Essex	58,195
Gloucestershire	32,281
Hampshire	50,728
Hereford and Worcester	14,432
Hertfordshire	9,806
Humberside	19,253
Isle of Wight	10,369

LEA	Total capital bid 1994–95(£000)
Kent	40,464
Lancashire	40,633
Leicestershire	11,838
Lincoln	17,278
Norfolk	12,791
North Yorkshire	17,530
Northamptonshire	14,097
Northumberland	5,996
Nottinghamshire	17,045
Oxfordshire	21,641
Shropshire	8,448
Somerset	10,090
Staffordshire	16,119
Suffolk	19,715
Surrey	25,970
Warwickshire	5,384
West Sussex	16,087
Wiltshire	13,051
Total	1,608,696

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what further progress has been made in appointing more women as members of public bodies.

Women have been appointed to some 40 per cent. of all new appointments made in the last 12 months. This is a further welcome improvement and demonstrates our continuing efforts to ensure that women can play their proper part in our public life. The percentage of public appointments held by women is now 28 per cent. which is a further increase of 2 per cent. since September 1992 on top of the 3 per cent. increase in the previous year. Full details will be published in due course in the 1993 edition of "Public Bodies".

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many public appointments are currently held by members of the ethnic minorities; and what plans the Government have to increase this number.

Following the introduction last year of ethnic monitoring of public appointees, the statistics collected showed that at 1 September 1992, 2 per cent. of all appointments to public bodies were held by members of the ethnic minorities. The latest figures, full details of which will be published shortly in "Public Bodies", show that this has now increased to 2·3 per cent.A few departments have already set their own goals for further increases but it is not practical for all departments to set such a goal. The Government aim progressively to increase the number of public appointments of members of ethnic minorities in order more closely to reflect their contribution to national life. Currently nearly 5 per cent. of the economically active population are members of the ethnic minorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 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 the election in April 1992, there has only been one visit by a Department of Transport Minister to the four countries named. This was by me to Singapore in October 1993. No party political activities were included in this visit. Owing to changes of Ministers and personnel, it would incur disproportionate cost to retrieve the information on visits before the last election.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the maximum legal limit on blood alcohol levels for drivers in each EC country.

The information requested, in milligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, is as follows:

	milligrammes
The Netherlands	50
Portugal	50
Belgium	80
Denmark	80
France	80
Germany	1280
Greece	380
Italy	80
Luxembourg	80
Spain	80
United Kingdom	80
Ireland	100
1 Germany has not adopted a common limit after unification.
2 (0 in the former Democratic Republic).
3 For the general drink/drive offence but the power exists to charge motorists at 50 mg/ml if an accident has taken place.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has to make the wearing of bicycle helmets compulsory.

None. Bicycle helmets have been proven to reduce significantly both the number and the severity of head injuries. We therefore encourage cyclists, particularly children, to wear them.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) if he will give the date of receipt of an application for welfare adaptations at 17 O'Reilly park, Killeen, Newry, and the dates when the application was referred to the occupational therapist; when an occupational therapist report was received; when an architect was appointed; and when work is due to be completed;

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive but I understand from the chief executive that a verbal application was received in early January 1993 and referred to the occupational therapist on 7 January 1993 whose report was received on 29 January 1993.A Housing Executive architect was appointed to carry out a feasibility study on 2 February 1993 and this was completed in May 1993. The scheme was passed to a consultant architect in June 1993 for detailed plans to be drawn up. These plans required amendments to incorporate comprehensive improvements to the dwelling which were brought forward to minimise disruption to the tenants.The detailed plans were completed on 22 November 1993 and were approved by the Housing Executive on 2 December 1993. The work is due to start in January 1994 and be completed by April 1994. The work should commence within the target timescale recently set by the Executive for carrying out major adaptations which involve an extension to a disabled person's home.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland which organisations have been consulted over the membership of the proposed Daisy Hill hospital trust; and which organisations have been invited to nominate members to the trust.

Apart from the period of public consultation on the application for trust status, my noble colleague, Lord Arran, advises me that he has not consulted on the membership of the Newry and Mourne health and social services trust, of which Daisy Hill hospital is a part.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the role of the lay helper in the creation of the Daisy Hill hospital trust.

The position of lay helpers in any trust is formal, voluntary and unpaid. Their role is to assist in drawing up the formal application, giving potential trusts access to the types of skills and experience which non-executive members are expected to bring to the trust board, and to identify potential candidates for appointment as non-executive directors on the board of the trust.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultations have taken place with the district councils in the Southern region, with members of the Southern health and social services board, or with hon. Members with constituencies covering parts of the Southern region, regarding the membership of the Daisy Hill hospital trust.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what appointments have been made to the board of the shadow Daisy Hill hospital trust.

Mr. John McEvoy, former lay helper, has been appointed chairman of the Newry and Mourne health and social services trust for a period of four years from 23 November 1993. My noble colleague, Lord Arran, hopes to be able shortly to announce the names of the non-executive directors for the new trust.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultations he or his colleagues had with the Southern health and social services board regarding the membership of the board of the proposed Daisy Hill hospital trust.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the incidence of spina bifida among newborn infants in Northern Ireland.

In 1992 the incidence was 0·78 per 1,000 total registered births.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (1) what steps he is taking to reduce the incidence of spina bifida among newborn babies;(2) what information he has concerning the use of vitamin supplementation for women in their main child-bearing years as a means of reducing cases of spina bifida; and if he will make a statement.

An expert advisory group report on folic acid and the prevention of neural tube defects, published in December 1992, confirmed evidence that women who increase their intake of folic acid when planning a pregnancy can significantly reduce the risk of having a baby with neural tube defect such as spina bifida. The report was immediately issued to all doctors, senior nurses, midwives and health visitors with a request that all women planning a pregnancy be advised to increase their consumption of folic acid. Health education material has been revised to incorporate this advice and a new public campaign using leaflets and posters was launched last month.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the training providers providing training for work programmes funded by Birmingham training and enterprise council.

I understand that the hon. Member is to meet the chief executive of the Birmingham training and enterprise council on 13 December. The TEC has agreed to supply him then with the list which he seeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he takes to monitor the financial viability of training and enterprise councils; and what contingency plans he has in the event that a training and enterprise council becomes unable to meet its contractual obligations.

Training and enterprise councils are contractually required to provide the Department with regular financial information. This information is carefully analysed by qualified staff to assess the continuing financial viability of individual TECs. The Department is in a position to make suitable alternative arrangements if a TEC ceased to be financially viable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people became unemployed in England each month since January 1991; and how many were re-employed within six months.

The information requested is only available for people whose claims are processed by computer—99 per cent. of the total. It can be obtained from the NOMIS database in the Library. Of those becoming claimant unemployed, about two thirds leave within six months. The majority leave to go into employment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what were the unemployment figures for the Tooting constituency in each of the last 10 years as of 30 November of each year.

The information is given in the table. The figure for November 1993 will be published on 16 December.

Claimant unemployment, on the unadjusted basis, for each November in the Tooting constituency
Year	Total
1983	5,336
1984	5,630
1985	5,687
1986	5,657
1987	4,496
1988	3,534
1989	2,814
1990	3,367
1991	5,657
1992	6,791

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what criteria he applies in exercising his discretionary power to suspend benefit under regulation 37 of the Social Security (Claims and Payments Regulations); and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the funding for each training and enterprise council in 1993–94, quantifying how much is to be spent on training for work, youth training, local initiative funds, administration and other projects.

I refer my hon. Friend to the reply given to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood (Ms Short) on 3 December 1993, Official Report, column 821. This lists the funding for each training and enterprise council, including training for work, youth training, local initiative fund, administration—management fee—and other projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what representations he has had regarding the levels of allowance paid to those on youth training schemes; what plans there are to alter the allowance in any way; what prospects there are to increase the allowance or alter the payment structure; and if he will make a statement.

I have had a number of representations regarding the levels of the youth training —YT—allowance. There are no plans to increase minimum YT allowances. Minimum YT allowances are set at levels which reflect the fact that trainees are involved in the learning process and I believe current levels are sufficient to meet the normal requirements of trainees living in the parental home.Trainees who are employed are paid a wage by their employers. Employers benefit from considerable Government investment in the training of young people and are therefore encouraged to pay trainees more than the specified minimum rates of allowance wherever possible.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will announce the composition of the United Kingdom delegation for the 1994 ordinary session of the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe.

The 1994 ordinary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be opened in Strasbourg on 24 January 1994. The delegation from the United Kingdom for the session will consist of 19 members of the Conservative party, 15 members of the Labour party and two members from the minority parties.The appointments of representatives and substitutes have been made on the basis of nominations by the parties concerned, in accordance with the resolution of this House on 22 May 1992 at column 682 and of the House of Lords on 18 June 1992 at columns 290-92.The same delegation will be representing the United Kingdom Parliament at the Assembly of the Western European Union, which next meets in Paris in June 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will provide a table showing for each standard region, with Greater London shown as a separate region, the total expenditure in 1992–93, and the budgeted expenditure in 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96, in respect of (a) estates action, (b) housing action trusts, (c) city challenge/urban programme, (d) urban regeneration agency/city grant/derelict land grant, (e) urban development corporations, (f) inner-city task forces and (g) city action teams.

[holding answer 30 November 1993]: The total public expenditure under these programmes for

Total public expenditure for 1992–93 and Provision for 1993–94
	Estate Action		Housing Action Trusts		City Challenge2 Urban Programme
Region	1992–93 outturn	1993–94 forecast	1992–93 outturn	1993–94 forecast	1992–93 outturn3	1993–94 forecast
North West	59·4	60·6	—	—	49·9	57·3
Northern	24·8	28·6	—	—	55·0	54·2
Eastern	5·1	5·9	—	—	—	—
South East	2·1	4·6	—	—	—	—
South West	11·6	12·3	—	—	2·0	2·0
London	93·1	89·8	11·8	—	60·7	85·6
East Midlands	26·6	27·4	—	—	16·5	30·0
Merseyside	37·8	39·2	0·2	—	39·7	43·1
Yorkshire and Humberside	42·8	41·3	14·6	—	39·7	48·5
West Midlands	44·7	46·3	—	—	50·1	57·3
TOTAL	348·0	356·0	26·6	78·01	313·6	378·0
1 1993–94 provision for distribution amongst Liverpool, Hull, Waltham Forest, Birmingham and Tower Hamlets HATs.
2 Includes Housing Corporations support towards City Challenge expenditure.
3 City Challenge expenditure provisional. Final figures will not be available until after receipt of authorities' 1992–93 final audited claims.

Total public expenditure for 1992–93 and provision for 1993–94
	DLG; and City Grant to 10 November 1993		Urban Development3Corporations		Task Forces
Region	1992–93 outturn	1993–941forecast	1992–93 outturn	1993–94 forecast	1992–93 outturn	1993–94 forecast
North West	35·7	27·8	80·8	58·6	2·5	1·1
Northern	13·0	16·5	84·3	75·5	2·0	1·8
Eastern	0·2	1·1	—	—	—	—
South East	0·6	1·0	—	—	—	—
South West	4·1	4·3	22·9	16·3	1·0	0·7
London	4·0	3·9	4240·9	4132·4	6·7	5·0
East Midlands	15·9	15·1	—	—	2·9	2·2
Merseyside	16·9	13·4	—	—	2·5	2·1
Yorkshire and Humberside	36·5	28·9	21·8	16·0	3·6	2·3
West Midlands	32·5	27·4	65·1	60·7	3·1	2·6
Total	159·4	2139·4	515·8	339·5	24·3	17·8
1 Excludes English Estates; resources include DLG receipts.
2 City Grant regional breakdown to 10 November only. Total 1993–94 provision for DLG (including receipts)/City Grant/English Partnerships (excluding English Estates) is £172 million.
3 Excludes receipts from own activities and from the ERDF.
4 Includes provision for Docklands Light Railway.

Total public expenditure for 1992–93 and provision for 1993–94
	City action teams
Region	1992–93 outturn	1993–94 forecast
North West	0·5	—
Northern	1·1	—
Eastern	—	—
South East	—	—
South West	—	—
London	0·9	—
East Midlands	0·5	—
Merseyside	0·6	—
York/Humberside	0·5	—
West Midlands	0·5	—
Total	4·6	11·2
1 Breakdown of 1993–94 provision not yet available

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the total amount spent by his Department under the derelict land grant in 1992–93 in (a) the Northern region and (b) the United Kingdom as a whole;(2) what was the total amount spent by his Department under the city challenge scheme in 1992–93 in

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Islington, North (Mr. Corbyn) today. This contained programme information for each region in England. City challenge expenditure in England as a whole was £82·1 million in 1992–93 and in the northern region £14·99 million. Tyne and Wear city action team spent £494,000 in 1992–93 and Cleveland city action team spent £645,000.My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Wales, for Scotland and for Northern Ireland are responsible for programmes operating in other parts of the United Kingdom.

Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council
£ millions
	Estate action	Urban programme	City Challenge	Derelict land grant2	Urban Development Corporations3	Inner city task forces3
1979–80	—	—	—	0·145	—	—
1980–81	—	—	—	0·013	—	—
1981–82	—	—	—	0·141	—	—
1982–83	—	—	—	0·102	—	—
1983–84	—	—	—	0·048	—	—
1984–85	—	—	—	0·013	—	—
1985–86	—	—	—	0·133	—	—
1986–87	—	—	—	0·102	—	—
1987–88	—	1·790	—	0·561	—	4—
1988–89	—	1·913	—	0·237	—	4—
1989–90	—	2·323	—	0·501	—	1·619
1990–91	—	2·000	—	1·372	—	1·192
1991–92	2·160	2·334	—	0·702	—	0·189
1992–93	2·920	2·210	1—	1·829	—	—
1993–94	1·867	1·288	1—	1·671	—	—
1 Dearne Valley Partnership: Expenditure shared between Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Metropolitan Councils.
2 Local authority derelict land grant only.
3 Not paid direct to local authorities.
4 Figures for these years not readily available.

Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
£ millions
	Estate action	Urban programme	City Challenge1	Derelict land grant2	Urban Development Corporations3	Inner city task forces3
1979–80	—	—	—	0·017	—	—
1980–81	—	—	—	0·022	—	—
1981–82	—	—	—	0·052	—	—
1982–83	—	—	—	0·141	—	—
1983–84	—	—	—	0·194	—	—
1984–85	—	—	—	0·176	—	—
1985–86	—	—	—	0·119	—	—
1986–87	—	—	—	0·333	—	—
1987–88	0·019	1·370	—	0·525	—	—
1988–89	1·662	1·420	—	0·484	—	—
1989–90	3·849	2·101	—	2·087	—	—
1990–91	1·752	1·859	—	1·685	—	—
1991–92	2·479	2·143	—	0·878	—	—
1992–93	4·230	2·164	7·500	1·546	—	—
1993–94	4·599	1·342	15·000	1·221	—	—
1 Includes £7·5 million a year from 1992–93 for Deame Valley Partnership: expenditure shared between Barnsley Doncaster and Rotherham Metropolitan Councils.
2 Local Authority DLG only.
3 Not paid direct to local authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the public expenditure provision for each of the four metropolitan borough councils in South Yorkshire for (a) estate action, (b) urban programme, (c) city challenge, (d) direct land grant, (e) city action teams, (f) the development corporation, (g) inner city task forces and (h) housing action trusts for each year since 1979.

The total amount of public expenditure under these programmes in these local authority areas is set out below. None of these areas receives specific city action team or housing action trust funding.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will publish the latest estimate available to his Department of the number of passengers expected to use the Cutty Sark station on the Docklands light railway extension;(2) if he will itemise and cost each of the savings made to reduce the cost of the Jubilee line extension to Greenwich and Lewisham.

The London Docklands development corporation, the owners of the railway, have made projections of potential passenger traffic at stations along the new extension. Annual projected passenger movements for a station at Cutty Sark rise from 1·4 million when it opens in 1997–98 to 2·5 million in 2001. Forecasts indicate that if Cutty Sark were not to be provided, the majority of potential passengers would use the new Docklands light railway station at Greenwich instead. The Government have asked the London Docklands development corporation and the Docklands light railway to consult local interests on the deletion of these stations before a final decision is made.Provision of a new station at Cutty Sark would cost an estimated £13 million; at Island Gardens an estimated £4 million. The original estimate of costs also included £10 million for initial rolling stock which are now to be provided by Docklands light railway as operators of the extension. Other potential cost reductions may result from a fall in the land acquisition costs and from minor changes in the project's specifications.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what criteria of viability he has applied to the future of the Island Gardens and Cutty Sark stations; and if he will make a statement.

The Department, together with the owners of the railway, the London Docklands development corporation, and Docklands Light Railway Limited itself, has made an assessment of the financial viability of the extension to Lewisham in the light of independent merchant banking advice. The conclusion was that the forecast incremental revenue from passengers on the extension could not finance the full project as previously costed—at £140 million. A review of the capital and operating costs of the project has indicated provisionally that the new stations proposed for Island Gardens and Cutty Sark will need to be deleted in order to make the project as a whole viable. These stations would be situated underground at each end of the new tunnel taking the railway under the Thames and would involve much higher costs of construction and operation than the ground level stations along the line. The forecast revenue from both stations would cover only the estimated running costs of those stations and would not be sufficient to contribute towards the capital costs of their construction.The Government have asked the London Docklands development corporation and Docklands Light Railway Limited to consult local interests including businesses before a final decision is made on whether to delete the stations.The Government have consistently supported this project on the condition that no Government grant or subsidy will be made available. That remains the position. Nevertheless, approval has been given for the project to proceed as a joint venture between the private and public sectors, with capital contributions being made by Lewisham council, South Thames training and enterprise council and Deptford city challenge.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will establish an integrated departmental sub-office in Plymouth to serve Devon and Cornwall as part of his programme of integrated regional offices; and if he will make a statement.

We will consider how best the new office in the south west can deliver its services across the whole region in consultation with the senior regional director following his or her appointment.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many responses were received to the consultation paper of March proposing amendments to the scope of part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and when he proposes to consult on draft amending regulations.

Two hundred and fifty responses were received to the consultation paper. These have now been considered and I am most grateful to those who sent in their views.I have today issued a second consultation paper which contains a statistical summary of these responses and invites comments on draft regulations to amend the prescribed processes and substances regulations.I am pleased to say that a substantial proportion of the amendments should have the effect of lightening the burden on business. The regulations will continue to ensure that processes with the greatest pollution potential still come under the stringent controls introduced by part I of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. But we have identified cases where businesses had to meet more onerous requirements than were necessary, and opportunities for cutting red tape, for example by reducing the number of authorisations needed by certain processes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many badgers were shot or gassed in each county in each of the last three years; and how many of these were subsequently shown to have tuberculosis.

The number of badgers killed, following trapping during state veterinary service badger removal operations, in Wales since 1 January 1991 is as follows:

Year	Number of badgers killed	Number positive
1991	22	0
1992	—	—
11993	10	0
1 Up to 6 December 1993.

The figures relate to the county of Dyfed. No badgers have been killed by the state veterinary service in any other county in Wales in the last three years. The legal gassing of badgers ceased on 26 June 1982.

To ask the Secretary of State For Wales if he will make a statement on the discrepancies of his departmental approporiation accounts 1992–93, Paper 11-xi, identified by the Comptroller and Auditor General in his report of 2 December.

The Comptroller and Auditor General—C and AG—reported and qualified his audit opinion on three of the Welsh Office's 1992–93 appropriation accounts within class XVI. On vote 4, he found that

"erroneous payments to Training and Enterprise Councils (TECs) continue to exist at significant levels following the transfer of responsibility from the Department of Employment"

on 1 April 1992; an understatement, as a result mainly of the incorrect assessment of benefit entitlements, of certain payments made through the Employment Service Agency—ESA. He notes in paragraphs 16-18 and 26-27 the efforts which my Department, TECs and the ESA have devoted to putting these matters right. I recently met the chairmen of all the TECs in Wales, to stress my determination that fully effective systems should be maintained. They agree with me.On vote 5, the C and AG reported on the progress made in auditing the outstanding claims, brought to Parliament's attention when he qualified his opinion on the 1991–92 accounts, for payments made to highway authorities over the period from 1974 to 1990, and on clearance of claims relating to 1990–91. He has confirmed that the systems now in place have allowed the Welsh Office to record satisfactorily advances made since April 1990. Local authorities too should ensure they accurately record these sums and their use.On vote 11, an error in the method of calculating sums due to authorities in respect of community charge grant let to four overpayments in March 1993; the sums were all recovered by 30 September.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if it is necessary for appointment to a non-departmental public body in Wales that a candidate has been included in the register held by the Welsh Office for public appointments.

No, although many names are drawn from the departmental register. Candidates for public appointments may also be nominated by organisations, Members of Parliament and the Cabinet Office public appointments unit. All candidates are considered on their merits irrespective of the source of nomination.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has reached a decision on the level of resources to be devoted to regional selective assistance, the Welsh Development Agency and the Development Board for Rural Wales in 1994–95.

A demand for regional aid, from both Welsh companies and inward investors is still high and I am increasing the money available for regional selective assistance to £67 million to meet that demand.Grant in aid for the Welsh Development Agency will be increased by almost £10 million, a rise of nearly 16 per cent. The board believes overall expenditure of £167 million can be achieved for 1994–95, given its ability to sell assets. This will enable the agency to build on its success in attracting inward investment to Wales and to continue its support for our indigenous businesses.The budget of the Development Board for Rural Wales will also increase, to almost £17 million, bringing its expected overall expenditure in 1994–95 to over £27 million. This increase will enable the board to continue its business park developments at Penrhyndeudraeth and Cardigan, to develop its programmes for the western areas which suffer most from rural decline, and to continue to support the Wales tourist board's Tourism 2000 strategy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many beds are provided currently by the Brighton health care NHS trust; how many were proposed in the original redevelopment plan; and how many are proposed under the latest, revised plans drawn up by the trust.

This information is not available centrally. The hon. Member may wish to contact Mr. John Spiers, chairman of Brighton health care national health service trust for details.

	1 October 1989	1 October 1990	1 October 1991	1 October 1992	1 October 1993
Numbers of GPs	25,608	25,622	25,686	25,968	26,116

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many personnel are currently employed in administration and how many are employed in clinical services in Mersey regional health authority; and how many have been so employed for each of the last 10 years.

The information is shown in the table.

Administrators and Clinical Staff in Mersey Regional Health Authority 1982–92 (whole-time equivalent)
	Administrative and Clerical	Direct Care1	Medical and Dental
1982	5,350	25,870	2,050
1983	5,320	25,780	2,120
1984	5,450	25,530	2,120
1985	5,260	25,970	2,180
1986	5,280	26,160	2,170
1987	5,400	26,000	2,150
1988	5,560	26,180	2,170
1989	5,790	26,180	2,240
1990	5,810	25,390	2,350
1991	6,160	24,510	2,450
1992	6,240	23,940	2,530

Notes

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the population of Berkshire is registered at (a) fund-holding and (b) non-fund-holding general practices.

This information is not available centrally. Regional health authorities are responsible for managing the general practitioner fund-holding scheme in their areas. Nationally 25 per cent. of the population is covered by GP fund-holders. In Oxford region this is 33 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total number of general practitioners, and the total number of secretaries, administrators, receptionists, and practice managers in general practice in each of the last five years.

The available information is shown in the tables.The date relate to England:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of the population using the national health service are (a) female and (b) members of an ethnic minority.

Of all in-patient episodes recorded in England for 1989–90, the latest year for which information is available, 57·6 per cent. of cases were recorded as female. Of episodes with a diagnostic code other than complications of pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium, 52·1 per cent. of cases were recorded.Information is not collected centrally on patients' ethnic group, although we are currently consulting on the principle of doing so in respect of in-patients.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of (a) dysentery, (b) typhoid, (c) paratyphoid, (d) malaria, (e) TB and (f) jaundice were reported for England and Wales in each year since 1988.

The information is shown in the table.

Notifications of selected infectious diseases reported in England and Wales 1988–92
Disease	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
Dysentery	3,692	3,278	2,756	9,935	16,960
Typhoid	174	164	178	182	201
Paratyphoid	180	88	93	99	81
Malaria	1,271	1,478	1,493	1,553	1,189
Tuberculosis	5,164	5,432	5,204	5,436	5,799
Viral hepatitis1	5,063	7,071	9,005	8,860	8,993
1 Infective jaundice was redesignated viral hepatitis on 1 October 1988.

The rise in notifications of viral hepatitis seen between 1988 and 1990 was due to increased notifications of hepatitis A infection. This rise was consistent with the regular peaks in incidence of hepatitis A seen every seven to nine years.The rise in notification of dysentery in 1992 was seen in all major conurbations other than London. Trends in dysentery also exhibit a periodicity, with peaks every seven to eight years, although the peak in 1992 was higher than other peaks in the previous two decades.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how she plans to spend the extra money for the NHS announced in the Budget; and what percentage of it will be spent on administration.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, announced allocations to regional health authorities for 1994–95 on 7 December at columns 198-200. Revenue allocations will rise by an average of 1·3 per cent. above inflation. In addition, health authorities have been given a 2·25 per cent. efficiency target, to ensure existing resources are used to improve patient services. Health authorities and trusts should reduce their administrative costs as far as they can, consistent with sound management of the £22 billion spent on the hospital and community health services. My right hon. Friend recently announced our proposals for streamlining the management structure of the national health service. This will result in further substantial savings in administrative costs so we can maximise the proportion of NHS expenditure devoted to direct patient care.It is for individual health authorities to determine their own purchasing priorities within the framework of the NHS Management Executive's planning and priorities guidance for 1994–95, EL(93)54 published in June, copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give the figures from the returns for September showing how many junior doctors are contracted for an average of more than 83 hours per week, nationally and by region.

The number of junior doctors and dentists in England contracted for more than a maximum average of 83 hours a week, at 30 September, is as follows:

Region	Number
Northern	0
Yorkshire	5
Trent	0
East Anglian	4
North West Thames	1
North East Thames	32
South East Thames	5
South West Thames	2
Wessex	0
Oxford	0
South Western	0
West Midlands	42
Mersey	0

Region	Number
North Western	0
ENGLAND	91

Regional task forces are monitoring these remaining posts closely to ensure that they are eliminated as quickly as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to ensure that the national health service has adequate specialist beds for the treatment of leukaemia.

We are not aware of any evidence to suggest that the clinical facilities currently available for the specialist treatment of patients with leukaemia are in any way inadequate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many chairmen of health authorities in England received emoluments exceeding £500 per attendance in the last 12 months;(2) how many non-executive directors of health authorities in England received emoluments which exceeded £500 per attendance in the last 12 months.

Chairmen and non-executive members of health authorities receive an annual remuneration and are not paid on the basis of attendance.The amount of emoluments paid to individual chairmen and non-executive members of health authorities is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what powers (a) a district health authority/and (b) a family health services authority have to withold from publication any report on an agenda item to be considered in public session.

District health authorities and family health services authorities are public bodies to which the provisions of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 apply. Unless a resolution has been passed by the board to exclude the public on grounds of confidentiality, the public would be entitled to attend meetings and to obtain relevant papers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to instruct the NHS Management Executive regional offices to hold meetings in public after the abolition of regional health authorities.

We have no such plans. The abolition of regional health authorities is subject to the passage through Parliament of the proposed Bill.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the cost to the NHS of printing and publishing, by each regional health authority, documents for the information of the public.

This information is not available centrally. My hon. Friend may wish to contact the chief executives of the regional health authorities for details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the rate of spina bifida among newborn babies.

In 1992, the rate per 10,000 total births—live and still—was 1·2 for spina bifida in England and Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been flown back from abroad in each year since 1990; and what was the cost to the NHS.

Neither United Kingdom nor European Community legislation contains any power allowing national health service funds to be used to defray repatriation costs incurred outside the United Kingdom by United Kingdom residents. There is no central record of numbers privately repatriated by air.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what was the average monthly cost of keeping a young person in secure accommodation in the last year for which figures are available;(2) what was the average monthly cost of supervision under the Children and Young Persons Acts for the last year for which figures are available.

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which EC countries have a policy of random breath testing by the police.

I have been asked to reply.Police powers vary from country to country and information about precise breath testing procedures in each EC country is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the annual cost to the Department of the car service for Ministers in 1990–91; and how many vehicles were involved.

Information relating to expenditure by the Treasury for the use of Government car service cars by Ministers in 1990–91 is not now readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. The figure for 1991–92 was £260,355. Five cars were allocated to Treasury Ministers on long-term hire.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what are the most recent estimates of the number of people who are (a) under state retirement age and (b) over state retirement age, and receiving a pension from a recognised scheme, giving in each case the number who are (i) non-taxpayers, (ii) basic rate taxpayers and (iii) higher rate taxpayers, in the United Kingdom;(2) what are the most recent estimates of the number of people who are

The latest estimates of the number of people in receipt of an occupational pension in 1993–94 are in the table. Information is not available on the number of people receiving personal pensions.

	Number in receipt of an occupational pension (thousands)
	Aged under 65	Aged 65 or over
Lower rate taxpayers	400	1,000
Basic rate taxpayers	900	1,100
Higher rate taxpayers	70	80

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the average individual cumulative gain (a) in cash prices and (b) in 1993–94 prices to those earning (i) £5,000, (ii) £10,000, (ii) £15,000, (iv) £20,000, (v) £25,000, (vi) £30,000, (vii) £40,000, (viii) £50,000, (ix) £60,000 and (x) £100,000, as a result of each change in (1) income tax and (2) income tax and national insurrance, since 1979.

Latest estimates of the reduction in liability resulting from changes in national insurance and income tax rates, allowances and thresholds are in the table. The 1978–79 income tax regime has been indexed to 1993–94 levels by reference to the statutory formula and allowing for independent taxation.

Comparison between 1993–94 and 1978–79 indexed regimes
	Average reduction (£) in:
Range of individuals income in 1993–94(£)	Income tax	Income tax and national insurance contributions
Under 5,000	140	170
5,000 - 10,000	380	360
10,000 - 15,000	740	630
15,000 - 20,000	1,080	820
20,000 - 25,000	1,460	960
25,000 - 30,000	1,860	1,290
30,000 - 40,000	2,240	1,670
40,000 - 50,000	3,380	2,810
50,000 - 60,000	5,760	5,210
60,000 - 70,000	8,700	8,100
70,000 - 80,000	13,000	12,400
Over 80,000	47,700	47,200
Average	1,200	1,010

I regret that a reliable analysis incomes over £100,000 is not available.For the purposes of the calculations, of 1978–79 has been applied directly to the income base of 1993–94. In practice retention of the 1978–79 regime, indexed as appropriate, for the intervening years would have led to changes in the income base.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing the reduction in income tax in 1993–94 compared with the 1978–79 indexed regime, broken down into the top 1 per cent., 5 per cent., 10 per cent. and bottom 50 per cent. of taxpayers, showing the total reduction and the average gain.

Latest estimates on the annual reduction in income tax liability for 1993–94 compared with the 1978–79 indexed regime are given in the table. The 1978–79 regime has been indexed by reference to the statutory formula and allowing for independent taxation. For the purpose of these calculations the indexed regime of 1978–79 is applied directly to the later income base of 1993–94. In practice, retention of the regime, indexed as appropriate, for the intervening years would have led to changes in the income base.

Quantile group of taxpayers under the 1978–79 indexed regime	Nos. of tax-payers	Reduction in tax	Average gain
(Per cent)	(Thousands)	(£ million)	(£)
Top 1	300	9,600	35,800
Top 5	1,300	13,400	10,000
Top 10	2,700	16,000	6,000
Bottom 50	13,300	4,500	340
All taxpayers	26,700	31,800	1,200

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the regional distribution of (a) the personal tax burden and (b) the overall tax burden.

The table shows the amount of income tax payable by region for 1991–92, the latest year for which regional information is available. Regional information for taxes overall is not available.

Region	Amount of income tax liability of residents (£ million)
North	2,710
Youkshire and Humberside	4,840
East Midlands	6,360
West Midland	4,300
East Anglia	5,210
South East	28,800
South West	5,270
Wales	2,500
Scotland	5,170
Northern Ireland	1,050

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people and what percentage of all taxpayers in (a) Great Britain and (b) Northern Ireland paid the top rate of income tax in each year since 1979.

The table provides estimates of the number of taxpayers in the United Kingdom liable to income tax at a higher rate—that is any rate above the basic rate. Prior to the introduction of independent taxation in 1990–91, married couples are counted as one unit. It is not possible for the Northern Ireland component to be reliably distinguished for each of these years separately. However, for the years pre-independent taxation, 1980–81 to 1989–90, the number of higher rate taxpayers in Northern Ireland averaged about 20,000, about 4 per cent. of all taxpayers in Northern Ireland. It is estimated that there were 22,000 higher rate taxpaying individuals in Northern Ireland in 1991–92, which is around 4¼ per cent. of all taxpaying individuals in the province.

Taxpayers liable at higher rate, 1978–79 to 1993–941
	Thousands	As percentage of all taxpayers
1978–79	763	3·6
1979–80	674	3·1
1980–81	796	3·8
1981–82	1,090	5·2
1982–83	983	4·7
1983–84	860	4·2
1984–85	930	4·6
1985–86	950	4·7
1986–87	1,120	5·5
1987–88	1,190	5·7
1988–89	1,350	6·4
1989–90	1,500	7·0
1990–91	1,700	6·5
1991–92	1,620	6·2
21992–93	1,800	7·1
21993–94	1,900	7·5
1 Single people and married couples for years up to and including 1989–90, individuals from 1990–91.
2 Provisional estimates projected from the 1991–92 Survey of Personal Incomes.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for each region of the United Kingdom (a) the number of higher rate taxpayers, (b) the number of basic rate taxpayers and (c) the number that pay no national insurance or income tax.

The information shown in the table is the latest available on a regional basis and is for 1991–92.

Thousands
Region	Taxpayers liable at higher rate	Taxpayers liable only at basic rate	Non-taxpayers aged over 16
North	50	1,220	1,190
Yorkshire and Humberside	93	2,050	1,810
North West	122	2,620	2,290
East Midlands	83	1,760	1,360
West Midlands	95	2,160	1,900
East Anglia	53	975	640
South East	832	7,780	5,480
South West	114	2,160	1,530
Wales	36	1,210	1,050
Scotland	108	2,220	1,760
Northern Ireland	22	490	670

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) how much value added tax was paid per annum by a family consisting of a married man on half of average male earnings, his wife and two children in 1978–79; and what is the most recent estimate;(2) what estimate he has as to the average VAT paid per annum by a family consisting of a married man on

Estimates of VAT payments outside the range of three quarters to one-and-a-half times average earnings are not available. It is estimated that a married couple with two children on three quarters average earnings will pay approximately £700 a year in VAT in 1993–94 and £1,700 a year in VAT in 1993–94 at one-and-a-half times average earnings. Figures for VAT payments by such a family in earlier years, including 1978–79 have been deposited in the Library. Estimates of VAT payments are subject to wide margins of error.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list all the changes to the VAT system in each year since 1978–79, including both changes in the rate of VAT and changes in classification of goods and services.

On 18 June 1979 the standard rate of VAT of 8 per cent. and the higher rate of 12½per cent. were unified at 15 per cent., which was raised to 17½ per cent. from 1 April 1991. A comprehensive list of all changes in the VAT system going back to 1978–79 could be made only at disproportionate cost, but the main changes to the VAT liability of goods and services have been the extension of the standard rate to:

• —hot take away food from 1 May 1984;
• —building alterations from 1 June 1984;
• —the publication of advertisements in newspapers etc., from 1 May 1985;
• —the construction and sale of new non-residential buildings from 1 April 1989; and
• —fuel and power supplied to business, and to water and sewerage supplied to manufacturing industry, from I July 1990.

Landlords were given the option to tax non-residential rents and sales of used buildings from 1 August 1989. Supplies of stockbroking services, which were previously standard rated, were made exempt from 1 January 1990.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his most recent estimate of how much VAT is paid per annum by (a) an average family and (b) a married couple on average income; and how much they paid in 1978–79.

It is estimated that a family consisting of a married couple on average earnings with two children will pay approximately £1,010 a year in VAT, and a couple with no children £980 a year in VAT in 1993–94. Comparable figures for the same family types for 1978–79 have been deposited in the Library. Estimates of VAT payments are subject to wide margins of error.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the total value of the United Kingdom's exports for each of the last four quarters.

The latest information is available on the CSO database, which can be accessed through the House of Commons Library; the indentifier is DJAZ.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest quarterly figure he has for the total level of export orders; and what the total was for the same period last year.

Quantitative data on the total level of export orders is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much revenue the Treasury has forgone since January in lost excise duty from the cross-border sales of (a) wines, (b) spirits, (c) beers, (d) cigarettes and tobacco and (e) all of (c) and (d).