To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) whether either or both of the parties in the case Martin v. Watson in the Court of Appeal on 21 January were in receipt of legal aid;(2) how much time was taken in the Court of Appeal on 21 January by the Martin

In the Martin v. Watson case in the Court of Appeal on 21 January, neither party was in receipt of legal aid. The judgment, which counsel had already seen, was handed down and the question of costs was dealt with. This occupied 10 minutes of court time.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the average cost per hour of a case in the Court of Appeal.

The average cost per hour of a case in the Court of Appeal is not known. However, the average hourly cost of a bench in 1993 consisting of three Lord Justices of Appeal and necessary supporting court staff is estimated at £694 per hour. It does not include the costs of accommodation and other overheads.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who are the members currently appointed to the Insolvency Rules Advisory Committee.

[holding answer 3 February 1994]: The current membership of the Insolvency Rules Committee is: the hon. Mr. Justice Chadwick (Chairman), His Honour Judge Mosely QC, the Chief Bankruptcy Registrar (Mr. Registrar Pimm), M. Crystal QC, G. C. Stewart and C. G. Bird.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who are the members currently appointed to the Family Proceedings Rules Committee.

[holding answer 3 February 1994]: The current membership of the Family Proceedings Rules Committee is: Mr. Justice Thorpe, Senior District Judge Angel, Her Honour Judge Norrie, Her Honour Judge Downey, District Judge Andrew, J. Holman QC, J. M. Appleby and D. A. Salter.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who are the members currently appointed to the County Court Rule Committee.

[holding answer 3 February 1994]: The current membership of the County Court Rule Committee is: His Honour Judge Frank White (Chairman), His Honour Judge Neil Butter, QC, Her Honour Judge Paling, District Judge Wilby, District Judge Vincent, Peter Birts, QC, Henrietta Manners, Edward Gee and R. J. Winstanley.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who are the members currently appointed to the Land Registration Rule Committee.

[holding answer 3 February 1994]: The current membership of the Land Registration Rule Committee is: the honourable Mr. Justice Knox, J. R. Thomas, W. R. Stewart-Smith and P. Marsh.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who are the members currently appointed to the Supreme Court Rule Committee.

[holding answer 3 February 1994]: The current membership of the Supreme Court Rule Committee is: Lord Justice Leggatt, Mr. Justice Phillips, Mr. Justice Moffitt, S. J. Sher, QC, Miss J. Ritchie, QC, J. A. Wall and K. Gibson.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department who are the members currently appointed to the Crown Court Rule Committee.

[holding answer 3 February 1994]: The current membership of the Crown Court Rule Committee is: Lord Justice Russell, Mr. Justice Rougier, His Honour Judge Henham, His Honour Judge Geoffrey Rivlin, QC, P. F. Guggenheim, JP, M. Kalisher, QC, D. A. Jeffreys, QC, Miss V. Garner.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the matters discussed and decisions taken at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels on 7 February.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and I attended the Foreign Affairs Council on 7 February.The Foreign Affairs Council began with an open session on Presidency priorities. A copy of the intervention by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs will be placed in the Library of the House as part of the new procedure of depositing video recordings of Presidency open sessions.The Commission introduced the draft work programme of follow up action on the growth White Paper. The Council noted that the group of personal representatives of Heads of Government, established to review work on trans-European networks, would decide on priority projects and discuss financial requirements, and would submit an interim report to ECOFIN on 8–9 April. The Council agreed the Commission's 19 nominations to the high level group on information infrastructures; the United Kingdom representatives are Peter Bonfield (ICL) and Peter Davis (Reed Elsevier). It was agreed that ECOFIN, and other Councils which have a role to play, would monitor progress of follow up activity.The Council approved the nominations of six members of the Court of Auditors.A ministerial meeting of the accession negotiations with Austria, Finland, Norway and Sweden took place on 8 February. In preparation for this meeting, member states agreed a common position on agriculture and regional policy aspects of the negotiation.The Council agreed to a decision on the ombudsman, together with the text of a letter to the President of the European Parliament outlining the Council's concerns that the EP's rules of procedure on the ombudsman go further than the treaty. The Council also agreed a short statement on the Commission's legislative programme.In order to inform the Council's review in Janaury 1995 of the application from Cyprus to join the European Union, the Council agreed to appoint a Commission official, Mr. Serge Abou, as the Union's observer on Cyprus. He will report periodically to the Council on the implications of political developments in Cyprus for this 1995 review.Following a discussion of the latest events in the former Yugoslavia, the Council issued the following statement:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many visits abroad each Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, made during 1993; and what was (a) the cost to public funds and (b) the purpose of each visit.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Grantham (Mr. Hogg), made 20 official visits abroad to 33 countries during 1993 at a total cost of £27,667. Ten visits were for bilateral discussions, five for international conferences and five for European Community meetings.My right hon. Friend the Member for Watford (Mr. Tristan Garel-Jones) made 11 official visits abroad to 17 countries during 1993 at a total cost of £20,550. Five visits were for bilateral discussions, three for European Community meetings, two for international conferences and one to the European Parliament.My hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) made 19 official visits abroad to 23 countries during 1993 at a total cost of £21,504. Ten visits were for European Community meetings, eight for bilateral discussions and one to the European Parliament.My right hon.Friend the Member for Eddisbury (Mr. Goodlad), made eight official visits abroad to 14 countries during 1993 at a total cost of £46,090. These visits were primarily for bilateral discussions but included attendance at one international conference.I made eight official visits abroad to 11 countries during 1993 at a total cost of £29,147. Six visits were for bilateral discussions and two for international conferences.FCO Ministers are always accompanied by an official or officials whose costs are not included in these figures. Details of the overseas visits made in 1993 by my right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development will be given in answer to the hon. Member's separate question on that subject.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 8 February, Official Report, column 123, when was the last occasion that Ministers or officials of his Department discussed with members or officials of the appropriate foreign Government the problem of British paedophiles visiting (a) Sri Lanka, (b) Thailand and (c) the Philippines to abuse children.

We have a regular dialogue with Thailand and the Philippines on the problem of the sexual abuse of children.Most recently, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health discussed the problem when she visited Thailand in September 1993. Her Majesty's chargé d'affaires in the Philippines raised the issue with the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Manila on 21 January 1994.We last discussed the issue with the Sri Lankan authorities in 1987—the year in which the latest known case involving a British citizen occurred.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many companies were registered in the British Virgin Islands at 31 December 1993; and how many companies were registered there for the first time between 1 January and 31 December 1993.

On 31 December 1993 there were approximately 110,000 companies registered in the British Virgin Islands, of which 30,000 were first registered between 1 January and 31 December 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the main heads and amounts of the other external relations budget of his Department; from which heads in this budget he is proposing to reduce expenditure in each of the next three years; and what criteria he has adopted in deciding to reduce expenditure in that budget.

The main heads and amounts of class II, vote 2 (Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Other External Relations) for 1993–94 (total provision, including supplementary estimates) are as follows:

£ thousand
Section A
Grants and subscriptions, etc. to international organisations	303,690
Section B
General expenses and grants, etc. to nongovernmental and statutory organisations	7,274
Section C
General expenses	37,409
Section D
Military assistance	13,800
Section E
Unallocated	0
Other expenditure not included in the control total:
Section F
Reimbursement of certain duties, taxes and licence fees	39,884
TOTAL	402,057

Against the background of increased subscriptions to international organisations and higher priority claims on the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's resources, I decided that the grant-in-aid to the Commonwealth Institute should cease after 1995–96.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the Government's current policy on Kashmir.

Our current policy on Kashmir, reiterated by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs during his visit to India in November, consists of three points on which we believe there should be simultaneous progress—a dialogue between India and Pakistan as provided for under the Simla agreements; an improvement in human rights in Kashmir and a genuine political process there; and a clear cessation of external support for violence in Kashmir.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what considerations underlie the differences between the treatment of Martinique and Guadeloupe as compared with Commonwealth countries in the Caribbean in respect of imports of bananas into the EC.

Martinique and Guadeloupe are Overseas Departments of France and are therefore part of the European Community. The Commonwealth countries of the Caribbean are not.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available; and what was the approximate value of each item.

The following items of equipment have been reported stolen from the FCO and ODA in the past three years:

Items	£
2 keyboxes (£245 each)	490
2 answering machines (£60)	120
1 mobile telephone	200
1 lap top computer	3,500
4 standard telephones (£22 each)	88
1 Superset telephone	322
TOTAL	4,720

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what monitoring of the activities of the Economic Community of West African States ceasefire monitoring group have been undertaken by Her Majesty's Government in partnership with the United Nations, the European Commission or directly; and if he will make a statement.

ECOMOG is deployed in Liberia on behalf of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and is working in cooperation with the UN observer mission (UNOMIL). The UN Secretary General's special envoy for Liberia provides regular reports to the UN Security Council on the progress of the peace process. We support strongly all the efforts to achieve a peace settlement in Liberia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representation Her Majesty's Government have in Liberia.

We closed our embassy in Monrovia in 1991 and we therefore have no resident representation. Non-resident coverage is provided by our embassy in Abidjan.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what actions have been taken by Her Majesty's Government to hasten a ceasefire in Liberia.

We have given strong political support to the efforts of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the United Nations (UN) to achieve a negotiated settlement of the conflict in Liberia.We have contributed US$1 million, earmarked for humanitarian purposes, to the trust fund which the UN has established to support the peace process. Since 1990 we have separately given some £8·8 million of humanitarian assistance to help mitigate the effects of the conflict.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what meetings have been held with representatives of Charles Taylor's forces in Liberia; and if he will make a statement.

We wish to see a settlement of the appalling conflict in Liberia, and have listened to views from a number of those most concerned. The last meeting with one of Mr. Taylor's representatives was in May 1993, when his then spokesman for Defence met FCO officials in London.

To ask the Prime Minister which advisers to his office since 28 November 1990 have been seconded from other organisations; and what were the organisations and the lengths of the secondments.

I have been asked to reply.I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister on 4 February at column

To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will list the representations he has made to the European Union for funds and support in each of the last four years and state (a) how much was claimed for each project, (b) the programme under which the claim was being made and (c) the amount of funds received by the business;(2) if he will list the names of the chairman and directors of each company on behalf of which he has made representations for funds from the European Union, in each of the last four years;(3) how many representations he has made to the European Union for funds

I have been asked to reply.So far as I am aware, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has made no representations to the European Union in relation to the structural funds.

To ask the Prime Minister which Cabinet Ministers have served in the armed forces.

I have been asked to reply.Five Cabinet Ministers have served in the armed forces.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his oral answer of 1 February, Official Report, column 736, concerning children born with upper limb deformities, what discussions he has held with the Secretary of State for Health about a national study of these defects; and if he will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply.My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's private secretary has written separately to the hon. Member on this subject, following my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister's oral answer on 1 February at col. 736.I refer the hon. Member to the reply that my hon. Friend the Member for Bolton, West (Mr. Sackville) gave to the hon. Member for Easington (Mr. Cummings) on 11 February,

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what will be the impact on the jurisdiction of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration of the privatisation of the assessment of benefits, Giro order book issue and national insurance contribution recording.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply to her on 8 February at column 212.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many visits abroad the Minister for Social Security and Disabled People made during 1993; and what was (a) the cost to public funds and (b) the purpose of each visit.

I made two journeys abroad.The details are in the table:

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 8 February, Official Report, column 215, about applications to the Independent Living Fund turned down, in which local authority each of the applicants who were refused assistance reside.

I am informed by the director of the Independent Living (1993) Fund that the 11 individuals whose applications to the fund were unsuccessful on the grounds that their existing or proposed care package was valued in excess of £500, are resident in the following local authority areas (one person resident in each).

Norfolk	Essex
Lambeth	Brent
Clwyd	Tameside
Hammersmith	East Sussex
Devon	Barnet
Bolton

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what representations he has had from the Terrence Higgins Trust in regard to the Consultation Panel of 80 (Incapacity Benefit); what reply he is sending; what action he will be taking; and if he will make a statement.

The Terrence Higgins Trust has written to me asking why no member of the assessment panel has experience of medical incapacity for work in relation to people with AIDS or symptomatic HIV infection. I have explained that the new medical incapacity test will assess the effects of all medical conditions. It is not based on particular diagnoses. The members of the panel have been selected for their individual expertise, not as representatives of particular organisations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available; and what was the approximate value of each item.

This Department does not separately maintain centralised records of individual items stolen. Losses due to theft, fraud, arson or sabotage are recorded in a single category. The number of individual losses within this category, and the total value for each of the last three years for which information is available, is as follows:

Financial year	Number of individual cases	Total value
		£
1990–91	364	89,799
1991–92	411	72,315
1992–93	94	84,500

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when the hon. Member for Caerphilly may expect a reply to his letter of 23 August 1992 in respect of Mr. A. J. Silcox, of 3 Bryn Huelog, Penyrheol, Caerphilly.

I have no trace of this outstanding correspondence. If the hon. Member will provide me with further details I will look into the matter.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many absent parents in receipt of income support are currently having deductions made from their benefit in respect of child maintenance.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for East Kilbride (Mr. Ingram) by the Chief Executive of the Child Support Agency on 9 February at columns 377–80.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security by how many people the Child Support Agency has recently increased its staffing level; and for what reasons.

The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for Ros Hepplewhite, the Chief Executive. She will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 7 February, Official Report, column 68, regarding the water projects funded by the Overseas Development Administration in Indonesia, which companies have won the contracts for work on the water projects.

The company which is implementing the general research programme into canal system maintenance in a number of countries, including Indonesia, is Hydraulics Research Limited, Wallingford. No companies are involved with village-based water schemes as they are being undertaken by local communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which water projects the Overseas Development Administration has funded in Indonesia over the last five years; which companies have won those contracts; what was the value of those contracts; and which of those projects were funded under the aid and trade provision.

The following water projects in Indonesia have been supported with bilateral aid over the last five years:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consideration he has given to the eligibility of the proposed construction of a second airport at Kuala Lumpur for support under (a) the aid and trade provision and (b) the United Kingdom aid programme.

The Government are still considering the request from the Malaysian Government for grant finance from the aid and trade provision budget to develop a new airport at Sepang.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will consider targeting aid to countries which renounce the arms trade.

We target aid on countries which need it and can use it effectively in support of sound policies for economic and social development and the reduction of poverty. Most of our bilateral aid goes to countries with which we have close historical ties. It is for each country to assess and provide for its own legitimate defence needs.The United Kingdom actively supports the increased emphasis placed by the International Monetary Fund and the World bank on analysing the implications for economic and social development of the composition of public expenditure. We consider the setting of an appropriate level of military expenditure to be an important part of good government. It is one of the factors we take into account when deciding our allocations of bilateral aid.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will set out details of the disbursements from the sum of £11,201,000 which was allocated to the Russian Federation during 1992–93.

A list of all know-how fund projects to date, including disbursements under the 1992–93 programme for Russia, was recently placed in the Libraries of the House. Details of know-how fund activities are placed in the Libraries on a regular basis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will allocate emergency relief for the people of Madagascar, following the cyclone resulting in deaths and homelessness.

In addition to a donation of 500,000 ECU by the EC, we have provided the non-governmental organisation CARE with a grant of £31,267 in support of its emergency programme of agricultural rehabilitation in Brickaville. We are ready to consider any further requests.

To ask the Chairman of the Accommodation and Works Committee what is the policy and intention of the Committee on the allocation of areas in the Cloisters for (a) hon. Members and (b) secretaries.

The Accommodation and Works Committee has yet to reach firm decisions on the use of accommodation released by recent additions to the parliamentary estate. Proposals for the future of the Cloisters and other areas will be included in that consideration.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department in the last three years for which information is available; and what was the approximate value of each item.

There is no record of any equipment having been stolen from the Privy Council Office in the last three years.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who are the members currently appointed to Trinity house.

The current membership of the board of the Trinity House Lighthouse Service is as follows:

• Captain P. M. Edge—Chairman, and Deputy Master of Trinity House
• Captain D. J. Orr—Chief Executive
• Captain N. MacD Turner RD
• Captain P. H. King
• Mr. W. A. C. Thomson
• Captain M. J. F. Rawlinson OBE, RN
• Mr. M. J. Faulkner
• Mr. K. W. Clark FCA
• Mr. D. A. S. Vennings BSc (Eng), C Eng, MICE

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who are the members currently appointed to the Northern Lighthouse Board.

The current membership of the Northern Lighthouse Board is as follows:

• Mr. J. Hann CBE (Chairman)
• Sheriff-Principal R. C. Hay CBE, WS
• Mr. T. Macgill
• Captain A. F. Dickson, OBE, RD, ERIN
• Mr. A J. Struthers
• Sheriff-Principal N. D. MacLeod QC
• The Rt. Hon. Lord Rodger of Earlsferry QC, Lord Advocate
• Mr. W. F. Hay CBE
• Sheriff-Principal C. G. B. Nicholson QC (Vice-Chairman)
• Sheriff-Principal J. J. Maguire QC
• Sheriff-Principal D. J. Risk QC
• Sheriff-Principal G. L. Cox QC
• Captain D. N. Cowell (Isle of Man)
• Mr. T. Dawson QC, Solicitor General
• The Rt. Hon. Norman Irons, Lord Provost of Edinburgh
• Mr. W. A. E. Fraser, Provost of Inverness
• The Rt. Hon. Robert Innes, Lord Provost of Glasgow
• Mr. J. Wyness MA, Lord Provost of Aberdeen
• Mr. G. McMillan, Chairman of Argyll and Bute District Council

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many air misses there have been in each of the last five years involving aircraft taking off from or landing at each of (a) Heathrow, (b) Gatwick, (c) London City and (d) Birmingham airports.

TV Advertising	Radio Advertising	Newspaper Advertising	Other Promotional Campaigns
Department of Transport
Road Safety Campaigns
Drink Drive	None	None	Coastal Safety
Kill Your Speed			Marine Safety
Rear Seat Belts			Other Road Safety Topics Booklet to complement the BBC 'Drive' programme
Department Agencies—DVLA
Road Tax Evasion	Road Tax Evasion	Road Tax Evasion	None
Vehicle Registration Numbers	Vehicle Registration Numbers	Vehicle Registration Numbers	None

The objectives for road safety campaigns are to reduce road casualties by a third by the year 2000. Coastal and marine safety campaigns are designed to promote sea safety messages and awareness of coastguard services. The road tax and sale of vehicle registration numbers scheme campaigns are intended to encourage people to re-license their vehicles and to increase the sale of personalised numbers. The Department commissions independent research on all major campaigns to establish the effectiveness of its advertising.For 1994–95 the Department plans to run television advertising on Drink Drive and Kill Your Speed and promotional campaigns on other road safety topics.The Department's agencies plan to run television, newspaper and radio advertising on road tax evasion and sale of vehicle registration numbers and promotional campaigns on coastal and marine safety.

According to the records of the Civil Aviation Authority, reports of air miss type incidents submitted by pilots and air traffic controllers over the past five years, involving aircraft taking off from or landing at the airports in question, are given in the table. These figures include all reports, including those which were subsequently judged to involve no risk of collision:

	Year
Airport	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993
Heathrow	3	5	8	7	4
Gatwick	3	3	4	5	1
London City	0	0	0	1	0
Birmingham	1	2	1	0	2

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list all television advertising, newspaper advertising, radio advertising and other promotional campaigns with a budgeted cost in excess of £10,000 conducted by (a) his Department and (b) his agencies (i) in the current financial year and (ii) planned for 1994–95, showing for each the objectives and mechanisms for assessing the effectiveness of the advertising.

The following publicity campaigns costing more than £10,000 have been or are being carried out in the current financial year by the Department and its agencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what are the Government's principal proposals for new (a) rail, (b) underground, (c) road and (d) river projects in London; and on which of them progress is expected in 1994.

On Network SouthEast, work continues on the Kent link route modernisation at a total cost of £800 million, involving infrastructure upgrading and rolling stock replacement. On the London, Tilbury and Southend line, an £83 million contract for the major physical works on the line was signed with GEC Alsthom Signalling Ltd. in January last year. An £85 million re-signalling scheme on the Great Eastern is steadily being extended on lines out of Liverpool Street. We expect good progress to be made on all of these schemes in 1994, including the completion of the Kent link and much of the London, Tilbury and Southend work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he is giving to the proposal advanced by English Heritage, the National Trust and the Council for British Archaeology to tunnel the A303 trunk road under the Stonehenge world heritage site.

I am considering the proposal for a tunnel very carefully and the implications of its construction and future maintenance for the world heritage site. At more than 4 km, it would be the longest road tunnel in the United Kingdom by a substantial margin.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what objections he has received to his proposals to upgrade the A303 road at Stonehenge in respect of (a) the yellow route and (b) the grey route; and if he will make a statement.

Our public consultation in 1993 has attracted many helpful comments which are now being analysed. The question of objections does not arise since no draft orders under the Highways and Acquisition of Land Acts have yet been published. The next step is the announcement of the preferred option on which further development work can take place.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many metres of tunnel there are on the channel tunnel rail link in Kent; what percentage of the channel tunnel rail link route length in Kent this represents; and if he will list, with their lengths, the channel tunnel rail link tunnels in Kent.

The route of the channel tunnel rail link to be safeguarded very shortly has the following tunnels in Kent:

	Metres
Thames tunnel (portion in Kent)	1,505
North Downs tunnel	3,175
Park Wood West tunnel (Boxley)	330
Hollingbourne tunnel (Eyhome Street)	240
Sandway tunnel (under Headcorn road)	170
Tunnel at Church Road, Mersham	160
Sandling Park tunnel	90

Decisions will follow on the route at Pepper Hill and Ashford which may involve further tunnels. The route for consultation issued last year had the following tunnels at these two locations:

	Metres
Pepper Hill tunnel	910
Tunnel at Ashford Junction (Leacon Lane)	205
Tunnel at Ashford Junction (A20)	450
Sandyhurst Lane tunnel	135
Willesborough Lees tunnel	1,150

The total length of tunnels on the route in Kent, including the 1993 route for consultation at Pepper Hill and Ashford, is approximately 8,520 metres. This is 11.3 per cent. of the total length of the route in Kent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the minimum length of a tunnel on the channel tunnel rail link is for it to be defined as a tunnel, rather than a bridge.

The terminology chosen by Union Railways defines a tunnel as any structure over the railway longer than 50 metres. Shorter structures are defined as bridges.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the organisations which made representations to his Department in support of the Boxley long tunnel on the channel tunnel rail link.

The organisations which in response to an invitation for formal comments made representations to the Department in favour of a long tunnel in mid-Kent were as follows:

• Kent County Council
• Tonbridge and Mailing Borough Council
• Maidstone Borough Council
• Kent Association of Parish Councils
• Aylesford Parish Council
• Boxley Parish Council
• Detling Parish Council
• Thrunham Parish Council
• Bearsted Parish Council
• Bluebells Action Group
• Kits Coty Action Group
• North Aylesford Action Group
• Boxley and Penenden Heath Rail Concern
• Detling Rail Action Group
• Thumhan Action Group
• Sandling Residents' Association
• Cuxton and North Hailing Rail Action Group
• Association of Men of Kent and Kentish Men
• Kent Action Group
• Council for the Protection of Rural England (Kent Branch)
• Kent Trust for Nature Conservation
• Mid-Ken Long Tunnel Joint Committee
• Weald of Kent Preservation Society

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to give travellers financial inducements to use public transport in line with Her Majesty's Government's policy.

It is not Government policy to offer travellers direct financial inducements to use public transport. The Government believe that the prices people pay for transport should reflect the costs and benefits of their use. However, local authorities have discretion to provide concessionary fares for pensioners and some other groups of people, which are funded with central Government assistance.There are also substantial grants and subsidies available to public transport operators. In 1992–93, British Rail received £1·15 billion in PSO grant, representing an increase of 40 per cent. in real terms on 1991–92. The 1993 autumn Budget settlement will provide nearly £3 billion in support to London Transport over the next three years. This includes funds for the Jubilee line extension.The bus industry will also benefit from fuel duty rebate. In 1993–94 this will total around £200 million. Bus operators can also reclaim all VAT paid on the pump price of fuel provided they are VAT registered. VAT on passenger transport is zero rated. The Government are also working with the bus industry and local authorities on ways to make bus travel more attractive, for example through traffic management measures to speed up journey times.The Government have also introduced other measures which should indirectly encourage the use of public transport services. These include the commitment in the 1993 autumn Budget to increase road fuel duties in future Budgets by at least 5 per cent. in real terms which should act as an incentive to road users to minimise their transport costs through the use of more fuel efficient vehicles and, where appropriate, the use of public transport alternatives.In addition, central Government and local authorities are carrying out research on the feasibility of city congestion charging. If implemented this could significantly improve the viability and attractiveness of public transport.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he has had discussions with the chairman of London Underground on improving the service on the Central line.

I regularly discuss a wide range of issues with the Chairman of London Underground.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects to make an announcement about the Blackwall third crossing.

I will make an announcement once I have considered all the views put to me.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what further work he expects to be undertaken in the next year on plans for the extension of the east London line.

London Underground Ltd submitted an application to the Secretary of State for an order under the Transport and Works Act 1992 to grant it powers to construct the proposed northern extension to the East London line on 30 November 1993. If powers are granted, it is envisaged that the scheme would be taken forward as a joint venture with the private sector.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will specify the range of measures to reduce environmental impacts of transport and influence traffic growth that the Government are pursuing.

In the November Budget speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced an 8–10 per cent. increase in road fuel duties. He also announced that in future Budgets he will increase duty on all road fuels by at least 5 per cent. in real terms. This will encourage all motorists to use fuel more wisely.Tight new EC emission standards for both cars and lorries are coming in over the next few years. Most new cars have needed catalytic converters since the beginning of 1993. These reduce harmful emissions by about 80 per cent.The MOT emissions check introduced for cars in November 1991 is helping to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons. Since 1 September 1993 there has been a metered smoke test in the annual test for heavy diesels. Since 1 February 1994 there has also been a metered smoke test for diesel cars.Measures to reduce congestion in urban areas will also help—these involve a mix of traffic management, parking controls and better public transport. The Department is undertaking a programme of research on congestion, which includes an assessment of the possible role of road pricing.In London, for example, the Department is introducing a network of red routes designed to improve the movement of traffic. Journeys on these routes will be smoother with less stopping and starting. This will mean less pollution. Associated traffic management and parking guidance includes proposals for moderating traffic growth and the opportunities for parking in London which have a part to play in containing pollution.The introduction of the "package approach" encourages local authorities to develop a coherent strategy for dealing with urban traffic problems and provides more flexibility for funding between modes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what initiatives he is taking in the transport sector which, although primarily designed to achieve other ends including reducing traffic congestion or improving road safety, will have a beneficial effect on carbon dioxide emmissions.

The most important measure to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the transport sector is the commitment to raise fuel duties by at least 5 per cent. in real terms. This will save some 2·5MtC in the year 2000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport who are the members currently appointed to the Civil Aviation Authority.

The current members of the board of the Civil Aviation Authority are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will publish a table showing, separately for men and women and as an overall total, the number of incidents of (a) violent crime and (b) sexual assault on London Underground for 1992 and 1993.

[pursuant to his answer, 31 January 1994, col. 505]: There were some errors in the figures quoted for violent crimes and sexual offences on London Underground in 1992 and 1993. The correct figures are shown in the table.

	Violent crimes		Sexual offences
Year	Robbery	1Assault	Male	Female	Overall total
1992	479	636	11	251	1,377
1993	495	628	7	248	1,378

To ask the Attorney-General if he will list the cases still pending before the Court of Appeal involving members of the West Midlands serious crimes squad.

Currently, there are five cases before the Court of Appeal. They are as follows:

• Martin P. Foran
• Roy Meads
• Anthony M. Jones
• Trevor McCalla
• Abdul Rasheed

To ask the Attorney-General, pursuant to his answer of 3 February, Official Report, column 833, if he will list the cases involving members of the West Midlands serious crimes squad where convictions have been quashed on appeal.

The 23 appellants whose appeals have been allowed by the Court of Appeal are as follows:

To ask the Attorney-General how many documents, and how many pages, have now been submitted to the Scott inquiry by the legal secretariat to the Law Officers.

A total of 288 documents, amounting to 1,697 pages, have been submitted by the legal secretariat to the Law Officers.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will refer to the Director of Public Prosecutions publications issued by Combat 18 which urge the public to make nuisance telephone calls to named individuals, with a view to prosecuting those responsible for publishing and printing such publications.

I understand that the police service, which is responsible for the investigation of alleged criminal offences, is aware of the activities of Combat 18, including the publications to which the hon. Member refers. The role of the Crown Prosecution Service, when involved at the investigation stage, is to provide legal advice to the police relevant to their inquiries, and thereafter to conduct any criminal proceedings which may be appropriate.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from the Law Officers' Departments in the last three years for which information is available; and what was the approximate value of each item.

No equipment has been stolen from my own office during the last three years. Equipment stolen from the Treasury Solicitor's department, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service is listed in the table.

Date	Items	Approximate value of items £
July 1991	1 Video recorder	400
October 1991	1 Personal computer and 5 Printers	8,300
January 1992	4 Personal computers	7,250
February 1992	4 PC system boxes	4,700
March 1992	1 Personal computer	1,000
May 1992	1 Facsimile machine	1,400
July 1992	2 Dictaphones	100
August 1992	3 Printers and 1 Dictaphone machine	3,009
September 1992	1 Laptop computer	300
December 1992	11 Personal computers and 1 Printer	17,250
January 1993	1 Personal computer, 1 Printer and 1 Telephone handset	2,130
February 1993	1 Personal computer and 1 Printer	2,000
March 1993	1 Personal computer, 2 Printers and 1 Video recorder	3,450
April 1993	1 Computer monitor	200
May 1993	1 PC system box	600
June 1993	6 Dictaphones	600

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster who are the members currently appointed to the Agriculture and Food Research Council.

The current members of the Agricultural and Food Research Council are as follows:

• Sir Alistair Grant (Chairman)
• Professor T. L. Blundell, FRS
• (Secretary and Deputy Chairman)
• Dr. P. J. Bunyan
• Mr. C. R. Cann
• Professor E. C. D. Cocking, FRS
• Professor J. R. Coggins, FRSE
• Professor P. James, CBE
• Sir Sam Edwards, FRS
• Mr. D. F. R. George, OBE
• Mr. A. B. N. Gill
• Professor R. M. Hicks, OBE
• Professor G. Horn, FRS
• Mr. R. M. Knapman, MP
• Professor J. R. Krebs, FRS
• Professor C. J. Leaver, FRS
• Professor R. Leech
• Dr. T. Little
• Professor T. A. Mansfield, FRS
• >Mr. K. MacKenzie
• Mr. J. L. C. Provan
• Mr. G. T. Pryce
• Dr. D. W. F. Shannon
• Professor W. V. Shaw

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the various sources used to compile the public appointments unit central list, what categories are used by the public appointments unit to sort these names and if he will list them by percentage; and what per cent. of the names on the public appointments unit central list are self-nominated.

The public appointments unit receives names of suitable candidates for registration on the central list in a number of ways including nominations from other Government Departments, professional and representative organisations, and recommendations from individuals including Members of Parliament from all parties, who know of the work of the unit. Self-nominations are also welcome and account for 38 per cent. of the names on the list. The categories used to sort the names are as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list all executive agency chief executives, their age on appointment, their current salaries, including bonuses, and the salaries of analogous civil service grades.

A list of all agency chief executives is reproduced in the table. The national salary ranges of grades 1A to 6 are as follows:

Grade 1A	£82,925
Grade 2	£64,307–75,328
Grade 3	£51,360–59,599
Grade 4	£44,390–53,740
Grade 5	£36,019–53,740
Grade 6	£27,660–46,122

Information on the age of chief executives on appointment and their current salaries is not held centrally.Agency Chief ExecutivesEXISTING AGENCIES

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has for the expenditure incurred in administration and collection of insurance premium tax.

It is a priority in the implementation of insurance premium tax to minimise the compliance and administrative costs associated with it, recognising that there are a wide range of interests within the insurance sector. Discussions since the Budget between Her Majesty's Customs and Excise and representatives of the insurance industry have been very much directed toward this end. When firm conclusions have been reached on the actual operation of the tax, a revised compliance cost assessment will be issued. However, it is clear that in terms of the likely costs of administration by Customs the tax will be highly cost effective; whilst the compliance costs of the insurance industry should not in practice prove burdensome.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he intends to respond to the claim presented by Civil Service Unions for Treasury underwriting of the severance terms for Home Office DTELS employees when that division is privatised; and if he will make it his policy that DTELS employees are offered the same severance and redundancy terms as PSA employees and Forward Catering employees have been offered.

I understand that my right hon. and learned Friend the Home Secretary has responded to the civil service unions' representations.On the second point, I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Nottingham, North (Mr. Allen) on 8 February 1994 at column

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many pages of evidence have now been provided by Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to the Scott inquiry.

Customs and Excise has to date supplied in the region of 15,100 pages of evidence to the Scott inquiry.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimates he has made of the reductions in consumption of domestic fuel resulting from the imposition of value added tax.

It was estimated that over the next two years imposing VAT at the standard rate on domestic fuel and power would reduce consumption by around 3 per cent. overall.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the total number of public appointments which he makes.

Details of the number of public appointments which my right hon. and learned Friend makes are listed in the publication "Public Bodies", which is available in the Members' Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what effect the takeover of British industry by foreign firms has on the exchange rate.

The effect is uncertain. The purchase of British assets by foreign firms will tend to raise sterling. Similarly, when United Kingdom firms acquire overseas assets, this will tend to lower the exchange rate. In the 10 years to 1992, the most recent complete year for which data are available, direct investment overseas by United Kingdom residents has been £122 billion, while direct investment in the United Kingdom by overseas residents has been £91 billion.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what reports (a) the Treasury and (b) the Bank of England have prepared in the last five years on banking, financial services or offshore companies operating in British dependent territories in the Caribbean; what recommendations were made in those reports; what action has been taken on the recommendations; and if he will ensure that a copy of each of those reports is placed in the Library.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has responsibility for offshore financial regulation in the Caribbean Dependent Territories. It published a Survey of Offshore Finance Sectors in the Caribbean Dependent Territories in 1990. A copy is in the House of Commons Library. Work is proceeding on enhanced regulation in the offshore finance sector to which both Her Majesty's Treasury and the Bank of England contribute.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the gross domestic product per head in each county for each of the last five years.

Estimates for gross domestic product by county are only calculated for years when there is an Annual Census of Employment. The latest available information for GDP per head by county is for 1987, 1989 and 1991 which was published in the December 1993 issue of Economic Trends, a copy of which is available in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a list of those works of art which must be made available for public access by reason of inheritance tax exemption.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Pendle (Mr. Prentice) on 28 January 1994 at column 454.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number and percentage of taxpayers who had incomes of (a) £5 million or more, (b) between £1 million and £5 million, (c) between £500,000 and £1 million and (d) between £100,000 and £500,000 in 1991–92 and 1992–93.

Reliable estimates are available only for the numbers of taxpayers with incomes in excess of £100,000 and are as follows:

	Total number of taxpayers	Number of taxpayers with incomes1 in excess of £100,000	Percentage of taxpayers with incomes1 in excess of £100,000
	Thousands	Thousands	Per cent.
1991–92	25,700	100	0·4
1992–932	25,100	110	0·4
1 Total income for income tax purposes
2 Provisional

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what United Kingdom tax regime will apply to any payment received by the chairman of British Aerospace as a result of the increased value of his shareholding with that company.

For reasons of confidentiality, I cannot make any comment on the specific tax affairs of any individual.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what are the legal restrictions governing the use of the term "bank".

The statutory restrictions governing the use of banking names and descriptions, including the use of the term "bank", are contained in sections 67–73 of the Banking Act 1987, as amended by the Banking Co-ordination (Second Council Directive) Regulations 1992 (SI 1992/3218).

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing for each region the change in total tax in each year since 1978–79 as against the 1978–79 indexed regime broken down into the top 1 per cent., 5 per cent., 10 per cent., and bottom 70 per cent., 50 per cent., 30 per cent. and all taxpayers, giving the number of taxpayers in each category.

[holding answer 14 February 1994]: Available information was provided in the answers which I gave to the hon. Member on 20 January at column 777 and to the hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr. Mandelson) on 29 November 1993 at columns 337–38. The analysis sought for the later years is not available and the analyses for the earlier years could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make it his policy to write to every pensioners group in the country giving details of the compensation package he announced in the Budget for all pensioners as a consequence of tax increases; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 15 February 1994]: Efforts were made on Budget day to make the details available to pensioner groups.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to publicise the compensation package he announced in the Budget for all pensioners as a consequence of tax increases; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 15 February 1994]: The package of assistance with fuel bills announced in the November Budget was the subject of a press release, and has received widespread publicity at the time of the Budget and since. All pensioners will have received notification of the increase in the state retirement pension by 1 April 1994.Leaflets offering information on the home energy efficiency scheme (HEES), which is to be extended to cover all pensioners, are supplied free of charge to local authorities, housing benefit offices, housing associations, citizens advice bureaux, the Benefits Agency, jobcentres, Age Concern and other organisations which have contact with HEES client group. The Energy Action Grants Agency (EAGA), which is responsible for administering the HEES, also encourages installers to promote HEES locally by means of advertising, press publicity and distribution of their own leaflets.The Department for National Savings ran advertisements in the national press for the new pensioners' guaranteed income bond between 21 January and 13 February. The prospectus for the bond is available from all post offices and on request from the DNS office in Blackpool.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) who are the members currently appointed to the Board of the Registrar of Public Lending Right;(2) who are the members currently appointed to the Advisory Committee for the Public Lending Right.

There is no PLR board, since the registrar (appointed by the Secretary of State) is a corporate sole. The current registrar is Dr. James Parker.The public lending right (PLR) advisory committee advises the Secretary of State and/or the registrar on PLR matters.The present members of the committee are:

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage who are the members currently appointed to the board of the Wallace collection.

The members of the board of trustees of the Wallace collection are:

• Hon. Simon Sainsbury (Chairman)
• Lord Egremont DL
• Prof. Francis J. H. Haskell FBA
• James Joll Esq
• Dr. Jennifer I. R. Montagu FBA
• Lady Shaw-Stewart.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what was the value of consultancy contracts awarded by his Department each year since 1992, both in current prices and at constant 1994 prices.

My Department and its two agencies have awarded consultancy contracts to the value of £5·13 million in 1992–93 (£5·3 million at constant 1994 prices) and £3·15 million in 1993–94.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will publish a list of the equipment stolen from his Department; and what was the approximate value of each item.

Since the establishment of the Department of National Heritage on 13 April 1992 we have had one lap top personal computer stolen. The approximate value was £2,500.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) what is the estimated completion date for the British library project;(2) if he will publish the report of his Department's consultants, Kennedy and Donkin, into the British library project.

I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member on 7 February at column 40.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what was his Department's total expenditure on the royal parks in each year from 1978–79 to 1991–92.