Written Answers

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Written Answers To Questions

Friday 22 April 1994

Home Department

United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the fairness and confidentiality of the tendering processes used in the recent sale of assets belonging to the publicly owned United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd.;(2) if he will investigate the circumstances around the tendering processes used in the recent sale of the publicly owned United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd.;(3) if he will make a statement about the recent sale of the publicly owned United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd. to the Racecourse Holdings Trust.

United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd. is owned by the Levy Board and its disposal is a matter for that board.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what meetings he or officials of his Department had with either the Jockey Club or the publicly owned United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd. prior to, and concerning, the recent sale of United Racecourse's assets.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if the assets of the Racecourse Holdings Trust are publicly owned.

No. Racecourse Holdings Trust is a private company owned by the Jockey Club.

Applications for asylum in the United Kingdom by nationals of Burundi and Rwanda, excluding dependants, and decisions^{1 2}
	1992	1993	1994 (January—March)
Burundi
Applications	4	10	11
Decisions	7	2	⁴—
Recognised as refugee and granted asylum	—	—	⁴—
Not recognised as a refugee but granted exceptional leave	—	1	⁴—
Total refused of which:	7	1	⁴—
Refused asylum and exceptional leave after full consideration	2	1	⁴—
Refused under para 180F of immigration rules³	5	—	⁴—
Refused on safe third country grounds	—	—	⁴—
Rwanda
Applications	4	7	7
Decisions	14	5	⁴—

Parliamentary Boundaries

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will discuss with the chairman of the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for Wales the arrangements and timing for holding inquiries into the commission's proposals for the counties of Clwyd and Dyfed; and if he will urge the commission to move the dates away from the European parliamentary elections.

The arrangements and timing of local inquiries are a matter for the commission. I understand from the commission that, in making arrangements for the inquiries, it took into account the date of the elections to the European Parliament, but decided that it was not possible to postpone the inquiries without an unacceptable risk to its achieving the statutory deadline of 31 December 1994 for submission of the final report on the current review of parliamentary constituencies in Wales.

Asylum Applications, Burundi And Rwanda

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for asylum he has received from refugees from Burundi and Rwanda; how many have been granted; where applicants are being held; and how long the decision-making process takes.

Available information on applications and decisions in the period 1 January 1992 to 31 March 1994 is given in the table. Information for 1990 and 1991 is published in tables 4.1 and 4.2 of Home Office Statistical Bulletin Issue 19/93 "Asylum Statistics United Kingdom 1992", and for prior years in the corresponding tables in earlier volumes of this annual publication. A copy of this publication is in the Library of the House.Information on the average decision time for decisions in recent months is not yet available.At 19 April 1994, no asylum applicants from Burundi or Rwanda were held in detention.

	1992	1993	1994 (January—March)
Recognised as refugee and granted asylum	—	—	⁴—
Not recognised as a refugee but granted exceptional leave	—	3	⁴—
Total refused of which:	14	2	⁴—
Refused asylum and exceptional leave after full consideration	3	—	⁴—
Refused under para 180F of immigration rules³	11	2	⁴—
Refused on safe third country grounds	—	—	⁴—
¹Decisions do not necessarily relate to applications made in the same period.
²Figures for decisions in 1993 may understate because of delays in recording. Information on decisions in the period January-March 1994 is not yet available.
³ For failure to provide evidence to support the asylum claim within a reasonable period, including failure to respond to invitation to interview to establish identity (para. 101 prior to 26 July 1993).
⁴ Not available.

Fire Safety (Retail Premises)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to make the fitting of sprinkler systems to all large retail premises mandatory;(2) what representations he has received about the fire safety of supermarkets and superstores; and if he will make a statement.

We have received three written representations about the use of sprinkler systems as a means of controlling the spread of fire, preserving life and minimising fire damage in supermarkets and superstores.Under present arrangements the installation of sprinklers in new superstores is a matter for building regulations, and in existing buildings, if appropriate, could be covered by a fire certificate. However, any provisions to require a general installation of sprinkler systems in existing large premises would require primary legislation.Fire safety issues are under review by a scrutiny team and, as my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment said on 29 March,

Official Report, columns 660-61, any changes would be made in the light of its findings and after consultation with interested parties.

The need for such provisions will be carefully considered by the Government in the light of the scrutiny team's findings and those of our recent review of the Fire Precautions Act 1971.

M11 Link Road

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 18 January, Official Report, column 474, what was the total cost in January of the police operations concerning the M11 link road through Wanstead including police overtime payments, expenses and allowances and other costs.

[holding answer 22 February 1994]: I understand from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis that the additional manpower costs of policing the M11 link road protest on Wanstead common during January were £16,163. This figure includes overtime payments and the related national insurance contribution, but excludes basic pay and allowances.

Education

Grant-Maintained Schools

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list for each local education authority the pupil capacity of those schools which have been approved for grant-maintained status and the number of pupils attending grant-maintained schools.

The table below shows full-time pupil numbers in January 1993 at schools which are currently grant-maintained in each local education authority area.Up-to-date figures on the capacity of grant-maintained schools are not available. However, my right hon. Friend intends to make regulations shortly under section 21 of the Education Act 1993 requiring LEAs and the Funding Agency for Schools, where it has relevant planning responsibilities, to submit annual information on the numbers of surplus places in LEA-maintained and grant-maintained schools respectively, beginning this year.

LEA	Pupils
Avon	1,569
Barking and Dagenham	0
Barnet	10,612
Barnsley	0
Bedfordshire	9,197
Berkshire	9,631
Bexley	4,224
Birmingham	16,338
Bolton	3,119
Bradford	5,619
Brent	10,379
Bromley	12,493
Buckinghamshire	11,970
Bury	223
Calderdale	6,997
Cambridgeshire	17,020
Camden	2,340
Cheshire	2,813

LEA	Pupils
Cleveland	0
Cornwall	0
Corporation of London	0
Coventry	0
Croydon	6,733
Cumbria	12,977
Derbyshire	16,946
Devon	4,856
Doncaster	0
Dorset	9,952
Dudley	4,839
Durham	0
Ealing	6,122
East Sussex	0
Enfield	5,725
Essex	84,712
Gateshead	0
Gloucestershire	24,404
Greenwich	239
Hackney	87
Hammersmith and Fulham	1,229
Hampshire	19,691
Haringey	0
Harrow	483
Havering	3,813
Hereford and Worcester	3,558
Hertfordshire	22,129
Hillingdon	14,069
Hounslow	2,108
Humberside	257
Isle of Wight	0
Isles of Scilly	0
Islington	0
Kensington and Chelsea	1,159
Kent	56,064
Kingston-upon-Thames	3,050
Kirklees	1,266
Knowsley	719
Lambeth	4,613
Lancashire	7,171
Leeds	1,189
Leicestershire	3,222
Lewisham	361
Lincolnshire	22,542
Liverpool	2,260
Manchester	0
Merton	0
Newcastle-upon-Tyne	0
Newham	556
Norfolk	11,231
North Tyneside	212
North Yorkshire	0
Northamptonshire	12,269
Northumberland	632
Nottinghamshire	1,831
Oldham	0
Oxfordshire	81
Redbridge	1,113
Richmond-upon-Thames	0
Rochdale	2,168
Rotherham	0
Salford	413
Sandwell	658
Sefton	0
Sheffield	2,836
Shropshire	3,847
Solihull	454
Somerset	772
South Tyneside	0
Southwark	4,030
St. Helens	0
Staffordshire	4,347
Stockport	0
Sunderland	0
Suffolk	0
Surrey	13,135
Sutton	7,390
Tameside	2,332

LEA	Pupils
Tower Hamlets	907
Trafford	2,892
Wakefield	0
Walsall	6,118
Waltham Forest	1,915
Wandsworth	7,002
Warwickshire	4,669
West Sussex	0
Westminster	0
Wigan	0
Wiltshire	16,131
Wirral	2,031
Wolverhampton	2,348

Note: Figures for numbers of pupils are derived from the Department's January 1993 Schools Census.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education when he plans to issue circulars arising from the Education Act 1993 concerning (a) the supply of school places and (b) the promotion of new grant-maintained schools.

A draft circular on the supply of school places and guidance for promoters of new grant-maintained schools will be issued by the Department later in the summer.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many surplus places there are in grant-maintained schools; and what is the figure as a percentage of the admission limit for such schools.

This information is not currently available. However, my right hon. Friend intends to make regulations shortly under section 21 of the Education Act 1993 requiring LEAs and the Funding Agency for Schools, where it has relevant planning responsibilities, to submit annual information on the numbers of surplus places in LEA maintained and grant-maintained schools respectively, beginning this year.

Schools (Parents' Choice)

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will list the figures in total and for each local education authority of admission appeals by parents failing to obtain a place for their child in the school of their choice, and of this total how many and what percentage (a) were withdrawn before appeals committee stage, (b) were settled to mutual satisfaction before committee stage, (c) were rejected by committee and (d) were decided in the parent's favour by the committee for the years 1989–90 and 1990–91.

The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Sixth-Form Colleges

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how much was spent by the Further Education Funding Council on (a) sixth-form colleges and (b) further education colleges in North Yorkshire in 1993–94; and what is its budget for (i) sixth-form colleges and (ii) further education colleges in North Yorkshire in 1994–95.

The Further Education Funding Council's recurrent funding allocations for 1993–94 covered the period 1 April 1993 to 31 July 1994. Allocations to colleges in North Yorkshire for this period were as follows.

	£m
Sixth form colleges	6.509
Further education colleges	31.544

The funding council has not yet announced its allocations to individual colleges for the academic year 1994–95.

Private Security Firms

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many private security firms have been employed by his Department for each of the last 10 years; what has been the annual value of the contracts; and if he will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.

Day security in the Department's London offices has been provided by two different private security firms since it was contracted out in 1988. Night security at the Department's Darlington office has been provided by two companies over the past 10 years.The approximate annual value of these contracts has been:

Financial Year	£000's
1984–85	8
1985–86	20
1986–87	22
1987–88	23
1988–89	103
1989–90	128
1990–91	163
1991–92	244
1992–93	334
1993–94	95

Between 1988–89 and 1992–93 security was provided, or part-funded, for more than one London site pending consolidation of London-based staff into a single headquarters building.On average five guards have been employed for each year since 1988.

Prime Minister

Stephan Adolphus Kock

To ask the Prime Minister whether Mr. Stephan Adolphus Kock was at any time between 1 January 1984 and 31 December 1989 in the service of the Government or any of its agencies or wholly owned companies or carried out any functions for, or on behalf of, the Government or any of its agencies or wholly owned companies.

I have nothing further to add to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Oldham, West (Mr. Meacher) on 19 April 1994, Official Report, column 432.

Environment

Urban Development Corporations

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the planned wind-up dates for each of the urban development corporations and the planned expenditure for each development corporation in earch year at current prices until the exit strategies take effect.

The planned wind-up date of each urban development corporation is set out in the table:

	Date
Bristol	¹31 December 1994
Leeds	31 March 1995
Central Manchester	31 March 1996
Birmingham Heartlands	31 March 1997
Sheffield
Trafford Park
Black Country	31 March 1995
London Docklands	31 March 1998
Merseyside
Plymouth
Teesside
Tyne and wear
¹ An extension of lifetime to 31 December 1995 is currently under consideration.

Grant in aid voted to each UDC for the current financial year is contained in the supply estimates 1994–95, class VII Environment. The Government's overall expenditure plans for UDCs from 1994–95 to 1996–97 are set out in figure 46 of my Department's annual report Cm. 2507. Formal allocations to individual development corporations for the next financial year will be made upon completion of the current public expenditure survey.

Water Pollution, Worcester

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will make a statement on water quality in the River Severn at Worcester;(2) if he will establish an independent inquiry into the National Rivers Authority's responsibility for and response to the pollution of the River Severn and water supplies in the Worcester area on Friday 15 April;(3) what advice he has received from the drinking water inspectorate on the quality of water supplies from the Barbourne treatment works in Worcester; and if he will make a statement;(4) what inquiry or inquiries are being conducted by his Department, or any organisation for which his Department is responsible, into the pollution of the River Severn and water supplies in the Worcester area on Friday 15 April; and if he will publish the results of all such inquiries; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 21 April 1994]: The drinking water inspectorate is carrying out an investigation into the effects of this incident on drinking water supplies and the handling of action to deal with it; its findings will be published. Timing may be affected by whether there is any need for prosecution arising from the incident. The National Rivers Authority is establishing the facts relating to the pollution of the river system and its own response. Subject to any legal constraints relating to possible prosecutions it will make its findings public. When the results of these inquiries are available to me, I shall decide whether there is a need for any further investigation of any aspect of the matter.

Lord Chancellor's Department

Mr Jeremy Turner

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when he expects to receive a report from the Home Department regarding its investigation into the conduct of the coroner of Ceredigion in relation to the inquiries into the death of Mr. Jeremy Turner.

A report on the outcome of the investigation by the Home Department is expected by the end of May at the latest.

Employment

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many parliamentary questions to his Department have not been answered over the last five years because of disproportionate costs or because the information requested was not held centrally, how many could be answered now due to computerisation and/or more effective operational systems; and if he will list each such question along with the name and constituency of the hon. Member who tabled it.

The number of answers given by the Department to parliamentary questions from January 1989 to December 1993 recorded in the POLIS database as including a reference to part or all of the information being available only at disproportionate cost or because the information was not held centrally was 212. This represents around 2 per cent. of the total number of POLIS entries for written answers in that period.Details of each of these questions can be obtained from the POLIS database, access to which is available in the Library. The further information requested is not currently available and could be answered only at disproportionate cost.

Asthma

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what is the estimated loss of time from work caused by asthma.

From answers given in a supplement to the 1990 labour force survey it is estimated that 79,000 days were lost in the previous 12 months as a result of asthma caused by work and a further 223,000 days were lost as a result of pre-existing asthma made worse by work. These figures are based on the interviewees' own report of the cause of their symptoms.

Wales

Taff Merthyr Colliery

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish details of Government or public funding proposed in connection with the closure of Taff Merthyr colliery; how much money was pledged in October 1992; how much has been paid; and if he will make a statement.

In October 1992 the then Secretary of State for Wales announced that up to £43 million would be made available to assist all areas in Wales affected by the colliery closures. Subsequently £18.09 million was allocated for coal closure mitigation action in the Taff Merthyr area and of this £16.36 million has been spent. This figure excludes training allowances which cannot be separately identified and £1.73 million of European regional development funding.

Unitary Authorities

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, (1) pursuant to his answer of 11 April, Official Report, column 214, what representation he received prior to the publication of the Bill (a) in favour and (b) in opposition to the inclusion of Pentyrch in the proposed new unitary authority of Cardiff;(2) pursuant to his answer of 29 March,

Official Report, column 625, what representation he received in favour of the inclusion of Pentyrch in the Cardiff unitary authority prior to the publication of the White Paper.

I will write to the hon. Gentleman and place a copy of my letter in the Library of the House.

Princess Of Wales Hospital

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what provision he has made for funding the Ysbyty Bangor and Princess of Wales hospital, Bridgend ophthalmic treatment centres, and the general surgery treatment centre at Princess of Wales hospital, Bridgend.

1994–95 funding for the Bridgend treatment centre is:

	£
Surgical centre	499,535
Ophthalmic centre	908,210

The ophthalmic centre at Ysbyty Bangor ceased operating as a treatment centre from 1 April 1993.

Hip And Knee Replacements

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 460, what information he has received from the Rhydlafar treatment centre in relation to the numbers of hip and knee replacement operations carried out via the treatment centre procedure during 1993–94; what assessment he has made of the comparison of the numbers of hip and knee joints funded for that year and the numbers carried out; and if he will make a statement.

The orthopaedic treatment centre, Rhydlafar, carried out 240 hip-knee replacements in 1993–94—seven less than funded. Those scheduled operations were postponed in late March 1994 for medical reasons, following pre-treatment assessment of the patients at the centre, and are being re-scheduled for the earliest possible opportunity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 460, of which purchasing health authorities are to be allocated the 291 hip-knee replacement operations at the Rhydlafar centre; if he will specify knee operations and hip

Authority	Hips			Knees
	1992–93¹	1993–94²	1994–95³	1992–93¹	1993–94²	1994–95³
Clwyd	3	8	12	3	3	10
East Dyfed	0	3	5	0	1	5
Gwent	53	36	29	26	38	35
Gwynedd	1	0	8	0	0	3
Mid Glamorgan	37	30	33	10	16	20
Pembrokeshire	15	19	33	3	9	15
Powys	5	4	11	4	5	7
South Glamorgan	29	30	22	12	12	14
West Glamorgan	21	26	21	5	7	8
TOTAL	164	156	174	63	91	117
¹ Completed operations.
² Includes 5 hip and 2 knee operations deferred to 1994–95.
³ Allocation.

GP fundholders have to bid to their district health authority for a share of treatment centre places which are included in the authorities' contracts with the centres. Subject to that, GP fundholders may refer patients direct to the centres and there is no charge to their budgets.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the South Glamorgan health authority concerning the discontinuation of the use of the Zimmer CPT artificial hip joint in the hip replacement part of the treatment centre funding allocation; and what allowance he has made in the allocation of £178,000 for joint revision surgery within the Cardiff Royal group for the excess numbers of replacements required for defective, or defectively fitted Zimmer CPT hip joints.

None. The use of particular items of equipment within the orthopaedic treatment centre, including the joint revision programme, is a matter for South Glamorgan health authority which is required to obtain prostheses from sources on the Department of Health register of approved manufacturers.

Health Statistics

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what provision he has made for the publication of information in Welsh health statistics indicating clearly the relationship between investment in defined health gain target areas and actual realised health gain in those sectors; and if he will make a statement.

The annual report of the chief medical officer, published in December 1993, summarised the progress being made in each of the 10 health gain priority areas. Further details, including information on the investment in each health gain area, is available from the published plans of local health authorities.

operations separately; if he will list on a comparable basis the knee operations and hip operations allocated to the health authorities in (a)1992–93 and (b) 1993–94; what provisions he has made for general practitioner fundholders within that allocation to each health authority; and if he will make a statement.

Allocations of places at the treatment centres are made to health authorities. The hip and knee replacement operations at the orthopaedic treatment centre for 1992–93, 1993–94 and 1994–95 are:

Education

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what arrangements he has made in relation to the transfer of work from the Welsh Joint Education Committee and the Welsh Language Education Development Committee to the Curriculum and Assessment Committee for Wales; and if he will make a statement.

The work associated with securing an adequate supply of Welsh language classroom materials, previously done by the Welsh language education development committee—WLEDC—and the Welsh Office is being done by the Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales. ACAC appointments include former WJEC staff previously working for the WLEDC. These appointments, and other arrangements that have been made, should ensure that ACAC is able to benefit from the experience and understanding gained by the WLEDC.

Environment

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has to issue guidelines akin to planning policy guidance note 15 regarding development and the environment in Wales.

I consulted on draft planning policy guidance on historic buildings and conservation areas—PPG 15-Wales—on 4 November 1993. We are considering the responses to that consultation exercise.

Wetland Birds

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what proposals he has for providing an alternative habitat for redshank and dunlin and other wetland bird species covered by the 1979 European wild birds directive that are expected to be displaced by the proposed Cardiff Bay barrage.

The proposals for compensation measures for dunlin, redshank and other wetland bird species are those outlined in the feasibility study by Mason Pittendrigh and David Bellamy Associates published in February 1993.

Transport

School Minibuses

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 438, if he will give a breakdown of the regional casualty figures for school minibuses by the number of (a) deaths and (b) injuries.

Estimates of the information requested are shown in the table. It is not possible to identify school minibuses in the road injury accident data collection system. However, it is possible to identify school pupil casualties in minibuses, during journeys to and from school, and also in other types of journey. Both these categories are included in the table along with children of school age, classified as school pupils, but not necessarily travelling in a school minibus on a school activity.

Minibus¹ casualties: number of school pupils² killed or injured: GB 1988–92
1988
DTp Regions	Fatal	Serious	Slight
Northern	0	1	9
Yorkshire/Humberside	1	1	16
East Midlands	0	0	9
Eastern	2	10	37
South East	3	3	28
Greater London	0	1	9
South West	0	1	23
West Midlands	0	2	22
North West	0	3	53
England	6	22	206
Wales	1	3	20
Scotland	0	13	38
Total	7	38	264

1989
DTp Regions	Fatal	Serious	Slight
Northern	0	0	9
Yorkshire/Humberside	0	4	6
East Midlands	0	6	10
Eastern	3	2	33
South East	0	1	34
Greater London	0	0	9
South West	0	6	25
West Midlands	0	2	24
North West	0	1	27
England	3	22	177
Wales	0	6	27
Scotland	0	4	32
Total	3	32	236

1990
DTp Regions	Fatal	Serious	Slight
Northern	0	2	8
Yorkshire/Humberside	1	6	18
East Midlands	1	6	30
Eastern	0	4	37

DTp Regions	Fatal	Serious	Slight
South-East	1	6	43
Greater London	0	12	6
South West	0	0	28
West Midlands	0	2	10
North West	0	0	54
England	3	38	234
Wales	0	4	10
Scotland	0	5	43
Total	3	47	287

1991
DTp Regions	Fatal	Serious	Slight
Northern	0	0	9
Yorkshire/Humberside	0	8	14
East Midlands	0	1	35
Eastern	1	13	33
South-East	0	0	26
Greater London	0	0	0
South West	0	1	6
West Midlands	0	1	20
North West	0	2	19
England	1	26	162
Wales	0	2	38
Scotland	0	2	21
Total	1	30	221

1992
DTp Regions	Fatal	Serious	Slight
Northern	0	1	15
Yorkshire/Humberside	0	4	16
East Midlands	0	0	34
Eastern	0	4	37
South-East	0	2	36
Greater London	0	0	32
South West	0	0	29
West Midlands	0	1	9
North West	0	0	13
England	0	12	221
Wales	0	2	43
Scotland	0	8	34
Total	0	22	298

Domestic Properties

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the total number of domestic properties currently in the ownership of his Department in each region of England; how many in each region are currently (a) occupied and (b) unoccupied; and how many of the occupied properties are held on each kind of tenure.

As this question relates to operational matters of the Highways Agency, I have asked the chief executive, Mr. Lawrie Haynes to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from Lawrie Haynes to Mr. Terry Lewis, dated 21 April 1994:

As you probably know, since the creation of the Highways Agency earlier this month, it falls to me as Chief Executive to write to MPs who have tabled questions on matters which relate to operational matters of the Highways Agency, and to give the information requested.

The attached table sets out the position on domestic properties held in management by the Highway Agency as at 31 March 1994 (the latest figures available for out South East Region in 31 December 1993), in the form you asked.

Region	Total	Occupied	Vacant	Fixed tenure	Periodic tenure	Other types of tenure
EMRO	92	62	30	61	1	—
ERO	827	542	285	453	89	—
LRO	878	716	162	126	590	—
NRO	31	15	16	13	2	—
NWRO	476	255	221	193	62	—
						Caretaker
						Tenure 2
SERO¹	947	900	47	889	7	Site Offices 2
SW(B)	113	94	19	83	11	—
SW(E)	43	34	9	29	5	—
WMRO	334	254	80	252	2	—
YHRO	75	49	26	47	2	—
Total	3,816	2,921	²895	2,146	771	4
¹ The figures for SERO are at the 31 December 1993.
² This includes a large number that are unlettable for various reasons.

Birmingham Northern Relief Road

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will now publish the report of the 1987 public inquiry into the proposed Birmingham northern relief road under the terms of the Government's new code on open Government.

No. As my predecessor explained in his written reply to the hon. Member on 2 June 1992, at columns 505-6 the draft orders which were the subject of the inquiry held in 1988 have been withdrawn and the report would not be relevant to the scheme now proposed.

(a) Motorways and trunk roads: total expenditure¹to nearest £1 million by standard region
Standard region	1982–83	1983–84	1984–85	1985–86	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93¹	Total
East Anglia	61	47	52	53	27	32	46	81	178	121	139	837
East Midlands	51	54	81	84	83	85	89	118	191	135	132	1,103
North	44	28	35	37	39	69	47	74	78	73	85	609
North West	87	77	58	66	95	77	111	125	171	170	170	1,207
South East	296	286	331	334	326	340	290	448	637	783	837	4,908
South West	56	67	59	54	75	108	148	141	188	176	170	1,242
West Midlands	77	87	126	127	139	134	190	263	233	265	272	1,913
Yorkshire and Humberside	60	59	54	56	75	106	69	93	114	125	154	965
England	732	705	796	811	859	951	990	1,343	1,790	1,848	1,959	12,784
¹ Expenditure figures cover new construction, improvement and maintenance. The regional figures are estimates.
² Figures not yet available for later years.

(b) Transport Supplementary Grant by local authority 1986–87—1994–95
(£ million)
Authority	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	Total
City of London	0·425	0·479	0·183	0·194	0·101	0·309	1·621	1·022	0·305	4·639
Barking	0·099	0·800	2·836	1·895	1·748	1·835	0·592	1·277	0·269	11·351
Barnet	0·164	0·475	0·400	0·291	0·161	0·515	0·487	0·625	0·330	3·448
Bexley	1·711	0·451	0·649	1·118	2·134	1·250	1·694	3·299	3·342	15·648
Brent	0·506	0·311	0·436	0·450	0·007	0·693	0·758	1·013	0·829	5·003
Bromley	0·256	0·429	3·883	3·833	3·834	3·055	2·794	2·770	0·556	21·410
Camden	0·053	0·107	0·131	0·086	0·189	0·644	2·301	1·986	1·542	7·039
Croydon	0·095	0·202	0·234	0·294	0·888	0·769	0·535	3·162	1·859	8·038
Ealing	1·615	1·911	1·938	2·820	2·429	1·586	1·027	0·983	0·000	14·309
Enfield	3·638	7·413	11·255	11·958	4·881	4·500	5·851	3·053	1·909	54·458
Greenwich	0·782	1·980	0·816	0·023	0·019	0·000	0·000	0·274	0·948	4·842
Hackney	0·230	0·200	0·427	0·410	0·186	0·524	1·406	1·203	0·648	5·234
Hammersmith	0·160	0·118	0·065	0·142	0·148	0·429	1·005	1·330	1·457	4·854
Haringey	1·059	1·478	3·662	5·812	2·721	1·066	1·813	1·562	0·718	19·891

As at the 31 March 1994 the number of domestic properties in management is 3,816, these are broken down as follows:

Road Building And Maintenance

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much has been spent by his Department since 1 April 1979 in (a) each standard region and (b) in each county or former metropolitan county on building, improving and maintaining roads.

The following tables give (a) the total expenditure on motorways and trunk roads, broken down by standard region, from 1982–83 to 1992–93; (b) the amount of transport supplementary grant paid to each local authority from 1986–87 to 1994–95; (c) the total Department of Transport expenditure by standard region on building, improving and maintaining roads from 1986–87 to 1992–93. Figures are not available for earlier years or for motorway and trunk road expenditure broken down by county.

Authority	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	Total
Harrow	1·242	1·609	3·578	3·050	3·214	3·283	2·513	5·352	1·760	25·601
Havering	1·833	1·284	0·320	0·207	0·215	0·639	0·388	0·629	0·154	5·669
Hillingdon	5·098	2·421	1·957	4·530	2·742	6·352	8·636	2·103	0·000	33·839
Hounslow	0·528	0·623	0·758	0·714	0·279	0·472	0·401	2·589	2·103	8·467
Islington	0·049	0·103	0·072	0·148	0·168	0·362	0·984	0·969	0·703	3·558
Kensington	0·391	0·261	0·069	0·633	0·285	0·230	0·317	0·614	0·061	2·861
Kingston	3·572	4·737	0·331	1·661	0·566	0·613	0·965	1·150	1·251	14·846
Lambeth	0·130	0·288	0·247	0·182	0·154	0·298	0·374	0·515	0·501	2·689
Lewisham	0·069	0·299	0·970	5·314	1·987	4·270	3·352	2·627	1·675	20·563
Merton	1·171	2·719	2·529	4·280	7·100	0·009	0·000	0·000	0·000	17·808
Newham	1·262	1·164	0·343	0·497	1·791	0·815	1·563	4·275	4·033	15·743
Redbridge	0·267	1·048	0·403	0·339	0·134	0·416	0·485	0·913	0·546	4·551
Richmond	0·224	0·205	0·186	0·163	0·172	0·408	0·441	0·599	0·331	2·729
Southwark	1·414	0·734	0·997	1·952	0·249	0·449	1·416	1·746	1·282	10·239
Sutton	0·500	0·843	0·778	0·682	0·590	0·991	0·288	1·028	0·373	6·073
Tower Hamlets	0·043	0·169	0·068	0·070	0·091	0·495	1·252	4·079	1·927	8·194
Waltham Forest	0·864	1·091	0·494	0·476	0·056	0·389	0·865	1·369	0·455	6·059
Wandsworth	2·309	2·442	0·554	0·433	1·011	2·174	2·283	2·054	2·132	15·392
Westminster	0·508	0·383	0·210	0·750	0·367	0·846	2·526	2·140	1·166	8·896
Bolton	0·090	2·050	1·343	0·043	1·342	1·264	1·711	1·768	1·424	11·035
Bury	0·760	0·332	1·010	1·698	0·849	0·433	0·565	0·880	0·860	7·387
Manchester	2·996	2·275	3·145	1·328	4·816	9·395	8·672	11·447	9·654	53·728
Oldham	0·090	0·270	1·120	1·097	0·614	1·948	5·544	3·944	1·360	15·987
Rochdale	0·275	0·250	0·285	0·263	0·189	0·464	0·760	0·964	0·874	4·324
Salford	1·518	3·301	3·846	2·791	2·548	1·569	1·686	1·324	1·032	19·615
Stockport	1·865	0·284	0·180	0·018	0·458	1·740	1·792	2·223	2·141	10·701
Tameside	0·450	0·247	0·310	0·566	0·403	0·690	1·232	1·458	0·712	6·068
Trafford	1·616	1·446	0·642	1·765	0·389	0·138	2·196	2·200	3·827	14·219
Wigan	2·271	1·650	2·315	0·998	0·872	1·846	0·835	0·210	0·336	11·333
Knowsley	0·197	0·143	0·242	0·273	0·896	1·670	6·496	7·405	3·764	21·086
Liverpool	2·702	2·267	1·235	1·762	0·750	0·000	0·000	2·060	2·572	13·348
St. Helens	0·080	0·150	0·635	2·304	2·941	7·781	6·973	2·411	0·209	23·484
Sefton	0·120	0·207	0·171	0·327	0·369	0·619	0·620	0·869	0·274	3·576
Wirral	0·316	0·377	1·230	0·709	0·450	0·000	1·677	2·353	0·963	8·075
Barnsley	0·711	0·473	0·400	0·545	1·574	2·671	4·024	1·676	2·674	14·748
Doncaster	0·409	0·226	0·471	0·661	0·707	2·292	3·533	3·098	2·437	13·834
Rotherham	0·231	0·167	0·223	0·688	1·243	0·662	1·942	1·000	1·613	7·769
Sheffield	2·419	2·105	0·380	0·585	5·546	5·012	7·475	11·318	5·286	40·126
Gateshead	0·070	0·800	1·995	2·050	0·972	0·756	2·888	0·402	0·000	9·933
Newcastle	1·060	1·715	2·285	2·763	0·062	0·989	1·078	2·836	3·442	16·230
North Tyneside	0·065	0·421	0·380	0·310	0·153	0·315	0·425	0·707	0·529	3·305
South Tyneside	1·375	0·970	0·360	0·215	0·700	0·961	0·176	0·454	0·350	5·561
Sunderland	1·466	1·100	1·577	0·965	0·847	1·913	1·956	1·746	0·569	12·139
Birmingham	3·923	3·913	3·903	3·954	7·895	10·256	12·263	17·458	15·749	79·314
Coventry	0·897	1·626	1·942	3·053	1·474	2·793	4·641	5·337	3·835	25·598
Dudley	0·122	0·644	0·692	0·368	0·575	1·444	3·564	4·678	4·408	16·495
Sandwell	0·492	0·595	0·917	0·943	0·752	1·180	2·398	2·495	2·288	12·060
Solihull	0·069	0·275	0·510	0·526	0·428	0·442	0·982	1·742	1·428	6·042
Walsall	1·456	1·370	1·578	1·072	2·751	0·440	8·635	10·094	7·854	35·250
Wolverhampton	2·363	2·844	3·461	1·548	2·842	6·160	3·033	7·593	7·483	37·327
Bradford	3·307	4·579	1·686	2·928	2·467	2·280	2·159	2·869	2·817	25·092
Calderdale	0·064	0·120	0·210	0·084	0·096	0·367	0·458	1·245	1·442	4·086
Kirklees	1·346	0·773	1·319	0·500	0·060	0·949	2·295	3·524	1·857	12·623
Leeds	0·204	0·553	1·523	1·541	2·632	1·987	4·083	10·070	6·981	29·574
Wakefield	0·141	0·180	0·263	0·308	0·157	1·213	1·414	1·897	1·344	6·917
Avon	1·700	1·973	4·306	4·196	6·714	8·855	6·295	7·546	7·320	48·905
Bedfordshire	1·945	2·616	3·249	4·103	2·591	3·228	2·233	3·276	1·910	25·151
Berkshire	3·304	3·102	2·688	1·195	1·882	2·707	4·617	4·990	2·426	26·911
Buckinghamshire	0·763	2·035	0·707	1·229	1·153	1·849	1·886	2·461	0·945	13·028
Cambridgeshire	1·665	4·474	2·255	2·298	1·932	1·870	2·792	4·577	2·244	24·107
Cheshire	2·920	1·905	1·364	2·776	4·154	5·501	11·099	11·601	8·794	50·114
Cleveland	3·036	2·211	3·162	4·492	5·442	3·689	3·623	6·955	4·216	36·826
Cornwall	1·220	1·488	2·270	1·743	2·797	3·958	4·848	5·293	5·036	28·653
Cumbria	0·280	0·775	1·400	0·640	2·326	3·312	2·283	3·884	1·803	16·703
Derbyshire	1·461	0·748	0·683	1·515	0·582	1·158	1·908	3·835	1·811	13·701
Devon	2·694	3·185	3·501	1·743	3·394	5·062	4·412	5·834	4·066	33·891
Dorset	5·057	5·377	4·320	3·102	2·866	2·770	3·466	3·297	2·258	32·513
Durham	1·559	2·409	1·938	1·915	2·410	3·659	4·307	6·113	4·607	28·917
East Sussex	1·166	0·964	2·121	2·482	3·071	5·231	3·151	4·155	3·154	25·495
Essex	5·332	8·050	8·730	5·074	6·686	6·448	6·275	7·628	7·757	61·980
Gloucestershire	0·861	0·942	1·077	1·563	1·933	2·091	4·377	3·469	2·595	18·908

Authority	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	Total
Hampshire	5·529	4·248	4·115	4·832	7·639	12·179	10·512	15·031	10·192	74·277
Hereford/Worcester	1·928	1·690	1·976	0·346	1·338	3·227	2·494	1·507	1·179	15·685
Hertfordshire	4·398	1·800	3·095	3·050	3·025	3·253	5·823	8·731	5·019	38·194
Humberside	2·072	1·967	4·518	5·221	5·312	5·589	8·225	8·242	5·822	46·968
Isle of Wight	0·967	0·883	0·727	0·525	0·414	0·971	0·902	1·544	0·363	7·296
Kent	4·437	5·813	9·255	11·256	12·550	37·229	33·149	25·008	43·616	182·313
Lancashire	4·766	6·375	4·683	6·035	12·873	11·232	11·630	7·955	9·550	75·099
Leicestershire	3·733	4·425	4·945	3·971	3·047	5·643	5·728	3·903	1·257	36·652
Lincolnshire	0·938	1·750	1·139	1·189	1·574	1·840	3·402	4·788	2·611	19·231
Norfolk	1·059	2·155	2·150	1·416	5·673	4·732	6·541	6·906	4·902	35·534
Northamptonshire	5·085	4·357	3·235	4·125	2·849	3·864	4·464	4·762	2·457	35·198
Northumberland	1·123	1·075	0·544	0·363	1·481	3·143	2·757	5·134	3·569	19·189
North Yorkshire	3·562	3·552	1·925	2·653	3·444	6·157	6·452	9·645	4·298	41·688
Nottinghamshire	1·718	1·850	2·037	2·054	1,914	5·555	4·277	4·221	4·326	27·952
Oxfordshire	0·511	0·801	0·713	0·023	2·462	2·984	5·087	5·148	0·000	17·729
Shropshire	1·456	1·294	1·750	1·679	1·566	4·355	2·481	1·514	1·262	17·357
Somerset	1·326	1·287	3·211	3·785	3·156	3·013	2·975	6·336	3·271	28·360
Staffordshire	3·257	3·015	2·822	2·992	2·913	3·927	3·820	6·922	5·861	35·529
Suffolk	2·547	0·899	1·753	1·935	3·187	9·298	5·688	4·165	3·579	33·051
Surrey	2·513	3·058	2·236	4·684	6·330	5·121	8·139	15·687	10·863	58·631
Warwickshire	1·239	1·459	1·746	3·209	0·492	0·951	1·797	2·516	1·611	15·020
West Sussex	3·622	3·089	2·730	1·526	4·532	4·126	3·478	3·694	2·625	29·422
Wiltshire	1·448	1·429	0·361	0·109	2·985	2·688	1·493	0·503	0·705	11·721

(c) Estimated total Department of Transport expenditure¹ on roads by standard regions to nearest £1 million for 1986–87 to 1992–93
Region	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91	1991–92	1992–93	Total
East Anglia	32	40	52	87	189	137	154	690
East Midlands	96	98	101	131	201	153	132	912
North	49	81	62	88	95	92	104	572
North West	118	100	133	149	204	216	233	1,153
South East	393	415	372	543	730	909	973	4,336
South West	89	124	187	157	212	204	198	1,151
West Midlands	156	153	211	283	256	300	318	1,677
Yorkshire and Humberside	89	121	82	109	137	154	196	888
¹ Expenditure figures cover motorway and trunk road expenditure as defined in footnote (') to table (a), and Transport Supplementary Grant.

Jubilee Line

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the current timetable for progress and completion of the Jubilee line.

The planned construction period is 53 months, with completion in early 1998.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements have been made for security at the site of the initial workings of the Jubilee line in consideration of its proximity to the Palace of Westminster.

London Underground Ltd. has a legally binding agreement with the Corporate Officer of the House and it is fulfilling all the requirements of that agreement.

Heavy Goods Vehicles

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has to restrict heavy goods vehicles to the inside two lanes on four-lane motorways.

None. To do so would deny the road haulage industry the benefits of motorway widening and could have an adverse effect on road safety.

Departmental Publications

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for how many regular publications he was responsible in 1993–94; what was their circulation; and how many were obtainable by subscription.

In the financial year 1993–94 the Secretary of State was responsible for 64 regular publications. Circulation was within the Department of Transport and to public bodies such as local authorities. None of them was on subscription.

Coastguard Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what arrangements he has made to launch the Coastguard Agency on 30 March; and if he will give full details of all costs associated with the promotion of this event.

[holding answer 29 March 1994]: My noble Friend the Minister for Aviation and Shipping formally launched the Coastguard Agency at a press briefing held on 30 March in the agency's headquarters in Southampton. At about the same time press briefings were also held at a number of HM Coastguard's 21 rescue centres around the coast. The final costs associated with the launch on 30 March are expected to be in the region of £4,000, which includes £5 per head for the buffet lunch for staff of the agency, used to mark the occasion in various ways.

Treasury

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many parliamentary questions to his Department have not been answered over the past five years; because of disproportionate costs or because the information requested was not held centrally how many could be answered now due to computerisation and/or more effective operational systems; and if he will list each such question along with the name and constituency of the hon. Member who tabled it.

Around 160 parliamentary questions were not answered fully and substantively in the five calendar years 1989–93 either because the information requested was not available or because it could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. This represents less than 1½ per cent. of the questions answered by Treasury Ministers.Determining precisely how many of these questions could now be answered would be a major exercise which would itself be disproportionately costly to undertake. However, I would expect there to be very few instances where information could now be provided which was not available previously.

Vat (Fuel)

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the loss of revenue from the imposition of value added tax on fuel in (a) 1994–95 and (b) 1995–96 as a consequence of (i) the compensation provisions and (ii) pre-payment by consumers.

The Government have made available a generous package of help for pensioners, and those on low incomes, worth £2,500 million over three years. I do not expect that there will be any loss of tax revenue from the compensation package. The revenue loss from pre-payment of fuel bills by consumers will be very small in relation to the total revenue from VAT on fuel and power.

Shipping Industry

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proposals he has for assisting the British shipping industry.

The health of the merchant fleet is clearly a matter of great concern both inside and outside the House. The Government have made it clear that we recognise the very important contribution which shipping makes to the economy, and the essential role which the industry can be called on to play in a national emergency. And we have shown in the past our willingness to help with the problems which it faces.We recognise that it is common for shipping companies overseas to benefit from special tax provisions. We believe that such special provisions introduce distortions which can inhibit competition and lead to the inefficient allocation of resources. We will be raising these points forcefully with the European Commission.However, we also recognise that, competitively, tax measures available overseas put our shippers at a particular disadvantage. We have therefore decided to introduce a provision which will allow capital allowance balancing charges for ships to be rolled over for a period of up to three years from the date on which the ship is disposed of, to be set off against subsequent expenditure on ships within that period. The amount of any balancing charge which can be rolled over will be limited to the amount needed to ensure that no tax liability arises as a result of a ship's disposal. We estimate that this measure will benefit the shipping industry by up to £20 million per annum in a full year. In drawing up this provision we will be considering whether it should be restricted to ships on the United Kingdom register; and in doing so will take account of what our European Union partners do.As with any measures of this sort we have an obligation to notify the Commission of the proposal. Subject to the outcome of discussions with the Commission, we will be bringing forward the necessary legislation in next year's Finance Bill, with retrospective effect from 21 April 1994. The draft legislation will be made available by the Inland Revenue as soon as possible.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he proposes to take to assist the Merchant Navy.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Members for Dover (Mr. Shaw) and for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) on 21 April at columns 597-98 and to the hon. Member for Pudsey (Sir G. Shaw) today.

Valuation Office Executive Agency

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what targets will be set for the Valuation Office executive agency for the year 1994–95.

I have set the following key targets for the agency in 1994–95:OPERATIONAL TARGETS

Council tax

To clear in aggregate some 730,000 appeals against the council tax valuation lists by 31 December 1994.

Non-domestic rating

To clear 260,000 appeals against the 1990 non-domestic rating lists.

To complete the revaluation of some 1·7 million non-domestic properties for new rating lists coming into effect on 1 April 1995.

Direct taxes

To undertake 75,000 valuation cases for the Inland Revenue for capital gains and inheritance tax purposes.

Other

To undertake 66,000 cases (and achieve receipts of some £25 million) in respect of chargeable work for other Government Departments, public bodies and local authorities.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND COST EFFICIENCY

To ensure the agency's net operating costs are at least fully covered by receipts.

To achieve efficiency savings of at least 4 per cent. on the agency's gross expenditure.

To break even, year on year, within each business segment after charging for the full cost of services including notional interest of 6 per cent. on the average working capital.

QUALITY OF SERVICE

To reply to 90 per cent. of all correspondence within 28 days of receipt and the remaining 10 per cent. within a further seven days.

To achieve agreed or specified time limits in 95 per cent. of cases undertaken.

To achieve a specified valuation quality standard in 83 per cent. of cases carried out.

Further details are set out in the agency's business plan for 1994–95, copies of which will be placed in the Library of the House on publication.

Taxation And Benefit Expenditure

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish a table showing (a) the percentage of gross national product accounted for by taxation and social security spending and (b) unemployment rates in each year since 1979.

[holding answer 20 April 1994]: The information requested is shown in the table. The figures given are presented in financial year terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product, following conventions used in the "Financial Statement and Budget Report".

Per cent./year
	(a) Non-North Sea tax burden^{2 3 4}	Social security expenditure^{3 5}	(b)Unemployment⁶
1979–80	35½	9·0	4·0
1980–81	36½	9·5	5·1
1981–82	39¼	10·6	8·1
1982–83	38½	11·1	9·5
1983–84	38¼	11·4	10·5
1984–85	38¼	11·5	10·7
1985–86	37¼	11·5	10·9
1986–87	37¾	11·4	11·1
1987–88	38	10·7	10·0
1988–89	37¼	9·8	8·0
1989–90	37	9·5	6·3
1990–91	37	10·1	5·8
1991–92	36¾	11·2	8·1
1992–93	35	12·3	9·8
1993–94¹	34¼	12·9	10·3
¹ For (a) these are forecasts.
² Non-North Sea taxes, social security contributions and the community charge as a percentage of non-North Sea GDP. Figures are on an accruals basis.
³ Based on money GDP figures adjusted for the years before 1990–91 to remove the distortion caused by the abolition of domestic rates.
⁴ Including the council tax from 1993–94, when it replaced the community charge.
⁵ Grand total benefit expenditure as a percentage of nominal GDP. Underlying expenditure figures are in cash terms. The figure for 1993–94 includes an amount for the spring supplementary estimate.
⁶ United Kingdom seasonally adjusted unemployment. Rates are annual averages of the total unemployed workforce, of the first year quoted.

Health

Nhs Trusts

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what percentage of NHS trust hospitals have now been awarded trust status; what percentage of the NHS budget is allocated to NHS trust hospitals; and what percentage of NHS patients are treated by NHS trust hospitals.

There are 419 operational national health service trusts which represent 95 per cent. of all acute hospitals, community hospitals and units and ambulance services. We estimate that in 1994–95 around 96 per cent. of the revenue available for purchasing hospital and community health services will be spent in NHS trusts. Figures are not available for the percentage of NHS patients treated in NHS trusts for 1993–94.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the total expenditure by national health service trusts, regional and district health authorities and family health services authorities on purchase of health care from non-national health service providers in 1990–91 and 1991–92.

Expenditure on purchase of health care from non-national health service providers in 1991–92 is shown in the table. The figure for family health services authorities is that for purchases by general practitioner fundholders of hospital services from private providers. In 1990–91 this category of expenditure was not separately analysed and was not available centrally.

	£000s
NHS trusts	12,204
Regional health authorities	32,746
District health authorities	159,818
Family health services authorities	3,698

Source: Annual accounts of regional and district health authorities and FHSAs; financial returns of NHS trusts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was her policy in respect of the requests for repayment of public dividend capital by NHS trusts in each financial year since 1991–92; and how many NHS trusts will be requested to make such payments in respect of each year.

Legislation provides that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may, with the consent of Treasury, but need not, accept payments from the national health service trust in discharge of part, but not all, of the public dividend capital. It is not currently policy to require such payments and accordingly no trust has been asked to make one.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy on the return-on-assets targets and returns for NHS trusts; and if these targets include the effect of interest charges.

National health service trusts are required to make a 6 per cent. return on the value of their average net relevant assets. It is calculated as the percentage that a trust's operating surplus, before charging interest, bears to the average relevant net assets for the year.

Radioactive Material

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what storage or disposal sites are operated by the national disposal services for radioactive materials and sources used by the NHS; which NHS agency operates this service; and if she will list the contractors approved by the service for replacing, recovering and transporting such sources.

AEA Technology and British Nuclear Fuels plc—BNFL—accept wastes whose disposal via their services is permitted under an authorisation, or which is subject to the Radioactive Substances (Waste Closed Sources) Exemption Order 1962.There is no national health service agency operating this service and information about contractors used is not available centrally.Each hospital is responsible for the safe storage and disposal of any radioactive materials and sources that may be used as set out in authorisations issued to each hospital by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993.

Primary Care Deprivation Allowances

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what are the costs of general practitioners' primary care deprivation allowances in each family health services authority area.

The amounts paid in deprivation payments by family health services authorities in 1992–93, the last year for which figures are available, will be placed in the Library. The deprivation payments scheme was introduced with the 1990 general practitioner contract to recompense GPs for the higher potential work load generated by patients living in deprived areas. Payments are targeted on those practices that serve the areas of highest deprivation.

General Practitioners

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the expenditure on health provision within general practitioners' budgets in each year since 1990–91 in cash and standard price terms.

Gross current expenditure on the provision of general medical services, in both cash and constant prices, is included in table 20 of the 1994 Departmental Report (Cm 2512), copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many budget-holding practices there are in each of the London regional health authorities; and what percentage of the total number of general practitioner practices in London are budget-holding practices.

There are 213 fundholding practices in the North Thames regional health authority and 339 in South Thames. 18 per cent. of the general practitioner practices within these two regions are fundholders.

Redundancies

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her policy on redundancy packages in the health service which include a prohibition on the individual from commenting on his case.

All settlements on termination should be open to public scrutiny irrespective of any confidentiality clause.

Nurses And Midwives

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the number of (a) part-time nurses employed in NHS hospitals by region for each of the last five years and the corresponding figures for part-time nurses employed in the community and by family doctors and (b) full-time nurses employed in NHS hospitals by region for each of the last five years and the corresponding figures for full-time nurses employed in the community and by family doctors.

The information available will be placed in the Library.

This information excludes Project 2000 students where numbers were approximately 3,000, 10,500, 18,300 in 1990, 1991 and 1992 respectively.

Non-Executive Members (Health Authorities)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make it her policy to replace standardised rewards for non-executive members of health authorities with a payment by hour of attendance at national average earnings.

No. Non-executive members receive a modest sum to help compensate for the time they contribute to the health authority. They are not salaried employees of the national health service and it would be inappropriate to treat them as such.

Cornwall Health

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will now make a statement on legal costs and the current libel case involving the non-executive directors of Cornwall health.

No decision has yet been made.

Secure Places

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the names of the local authorities in each region of England and Wales whose proposals to contribute towards the provision of the 170 additional secure places required for criminal justice proposals have been accepted.

The information requested is shown in the table. A number of further proposed projects are being held in reserve should any of the selected projects be withdrawn on planning or other grounds. It is currently anticipated that, subject to planning procedures, construction of 110 of the additional places could be completed by the end of 1995 and the balance by mid-1996.

Proposals brought forward by local authorities in England and Wales and included, in principle, in capital programme
Region and authority	Places
North East
Northumberland	¹5
Tyne and Wear	12
North West
Lancashire	¹8
St. Helens	¹3
Yorkshire and Humberside
Leeds	¹9
South Yorkshire	8
West Midlands
Coventry	¹8
Staffordshire	12
East Midlands
Derbyshire	¹3
Lincolnshire	¹8
Nottinghamshire	¹10
Thames/Anglia
Cambridgeshire	10
Essex	8
Northamptonshire	¹16
London
Southwark	¹16
Southern
Hampshire	¹8
West Sussex	10

Region and authority	Places
South West
Avon	¹6
Devon	¹4
Wales
West Glamorgan	¹6
Total	170
¹Indicates completion of construction anticipated by end 1995.

Medicines Control Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the key business targets for the Medicines Control Agency for 1994–95.

I have today placed copies of the 1994–95 key business targets for the Medicines Control Agency in the Library.

Patient Complaints

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she intends to publish the report of Professor Wilson on patient complaints; and if she will make a statement.

The independent committee set up under Professor Wilson to review national health service complaints procedures has submitted its report. We will be announcing the results of the review and publishing thereport for consultation shortly.

Social Security

Claimants, London

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many (a) couples and (b) lone parents in each London borough claimed family credit in (a) 1992–93 and (b) 1993–94.

The information is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Vat (Fuel)

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what plans he has to make compensatory payments to those entitled in respect of value added tax on fuel bills for the period 1 April to 11 April which is not covered by the existing scheme; and if he will make a statement.

None. The extra help is included in the 1994–95 benefit rates which become effective from the week commencing with the first Monday in the tax year in compliance with the statutory obligation imposed by section 150 of the Social Security Administration Act. In the case of the vast majority of claims, it will be available to recipients before their fuel bills become payable.

Child Support Agency

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many letters or other representations about the Child Support Agency his Department has received in the agency's first year of operation or at the latest date for which figures are available.

Between April 1993 and 15 April 1994 the Department of Social Security headquarters and the Child Support Agency headquarters received 19,620 written representations covering a range of views about child support policy and Child Support Agency operations. The Child Support Agency's telephone line for Members of Parliament has received over 1,000 calls since it was set up in mid-December.The number of written representations made to Child Support Agency centres and field offices is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will make it his policy that, where hon. Members request it, replies to specific inquiries relating to child support will be provided by him, rather than by the chief executive of the Child Support Agency; what criteria he uses when deciding which parliamentary inquiries will be provided by Ministers, and which will be referred to officials; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 9 February 1994 at column 365. There are no plans to change the handling of correspondence from hon. Members.

Invalidity Benefit, Brighton

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many individuals were in receipt of invalidity benefit within the Brighton borough council area for each consecutive year from 1986; and how much was paid out in invalidity benefit in each of those years.

This is a matter for Mr. Michael Bichard, the chief executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member with such information as is available.

Letter from Michael Bichard to Mrs. Barbara Roche, dated 21 April 1994:

The Secretary of State for Social Security has asked me to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about Invalidity Benefit (IVB) recipients in Brighton.

The information is not available in the format requested. This is because statistics did not identify separately invalidity benefit customers from sickness benefit customers until May 1991.

The Brighton Borough Council area corresponds very closely with the geographical area dealt with by the BA's Brighton District Office (DO). Statistics relating to the numbers of IVB customers appropriate to the Brighton DO area will provide a reasonably accurate figure for IVB recipients within the area in question.

However, from November 1992, IVB claims appropriate to the BA Lewes Branch Office (BO) area have also been dealt with at Brighton DO. Unfortunately statistics of IVB customers appropriate to each office area are not maintained and could only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Numbers of IVB recipients dealt with by Brighton DO at a point in time were as follows:
			Area
May	1991	2,137	Brighton DO area only
May	1992	2,556	Brighton DO area only
May	1993	4,243	Brighton DO and Lewes BO areas
March	1994,	4608	Brighton DO and Lewes BO areas

These figures were obtained from a 100 per cent. clerical count of cases in the DO at the last working day of each month.

Districts do not maintain records of the total amount of IVB paid to customers in any period. To establish the amount of benefit in payment at any point in time would involve disproportionate cost.

I hope you find this reply helpful.

Correspondence

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will now reply to the letter sent to him by the hon. Member for Gower on 7 March regarding his constituent from Mumbles.

A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 18 April.

Epilepsy

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what new guidelines his Department has issued to adjudication officers for determining eligibility for disability living allowance with specific reference to sufferers from epilepsy.

None.

Overseas Development Administration

Pergau Dam

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what legal advice he took before deciding to issue a directive to his accounting officer on expenditure on the Pergau dam.

My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary explained the position in his evidence to the Foreign Affairs Committee. The ODA accounting officer sought a direction from him on the grounds of the prudent and economical administration of aid funds, but not because of any issue of propriety.

Sudan

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what indications there have been that the signatories have been more willing to allow unimpeded access for food and medical aid in Sudan following the Intergovernmental Authority on Drought. and Development talks in Nairobi; and what access there will be to the Nuba mountains for international relief organisations through Operation Lifeline Sudan.

The United Nations has submitted proposals for access to 85 areas by air, 17 by road and four by river to the parties to the IGADD talks. The next scheduled talks are on 3 May.In the Nuba mountains, Kadugli and Dillinge are now accessible to United Nations agencies. The United Nations has applied to the Government of Sudan for access to further areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what has been the level of Operation Lifeline Sudan in each of the years in which it has been operating; what is the level that the United Nations sees as necessary for this year; and what has been pledged by donor nations;

(2) who are the donors to Operation Lifeline Sudan; and how much they each contribute.

We are seeking the information requested from the United Nations emergency units in Khartoum and Nairobi. I shall write to the hon. Member as soon as it is available.

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Fisheries Laboratory Experimental Station, Conwy

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, if she will make a statement on the future of the fisheries laboratory experimental station in Conwy.

The fisheries laboratory at Conwy is one of the four laboratories that comprise the directorate of fisheries research—DFR. Like most public sector research establishments, DFR is subject to the efficiency scrutiny announced on 2 February 1994 by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. Within DFR a study is also taking place of all the directorate's laboratory sites to identify options and potential savings and efficiency gains which may be appropriate for the future.

Glanders And Farcy

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will list the number of cases of glanders and farcy in each year since 1985.

The last recorded case of glanders or farcy, which are simply different forms of the same disease, was in 1928.

Racing Pigeons

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement regarding the reasons for insisting on vaccination of racing pigeons.

The Racing Pigeons (Vaccination) Order 1994 requires that an organiser of a pigeon show or race which takes part wholly or partly in Great Britain shall ensure that all racing pigeons entered for the show have been vaccinated with a suitable vaccine against paramyxovirus 1—PMV 1—in pigeons. This implements a specific requirement in Council directive 92/66/EEC on Community measures for the control of Newcastle disease which in turn, recognises the part that racing pigeons can play in spreading Newcastle disease to commercial poultry, either through direct contact or by passing the PMV virus to feral pigeons.

National Heritage

Parliamentary Questions

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many parliamentary questions to his Department have not been answered over the past five years because of disproportionate costs or because the information requested was not held centrally; how many could be answered now due to computerisation and/or more effective operational systems; and if he will list each such question along with the name and constituency of the hon. Member who tabled it.

Since my Department was formed in April 1992 it has declined to answer 14 questions on the ground of disproportionate cost or because the information requested was not held centrally.As computer and operational systems continue to improve there will doubtless be increased potential for this number to decline.

National Lottery

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proportion of the moneys allocated to them from the national lottery development fund he envisages should be the maximum spent on administrative costs by the five bodies selected by him to distribute the proceeds of the national lottery.

The proportion of net lottery proceeds spent by distributing bodies on administration costs will depend on the amounts allocated to them from the national lottery distribution fund and the total number of applications they have to process. Directions issued to the bodies under section 26(3) of the National Lottery etc. Act 1993 will require them to secure value for money in the administration of lottery funds.

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Eu Citizenship

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy in respect of British citizens who do not wish to have European Union citizenship conferred on them.

The treaty on European Union provides that every person holding the nationality of a member state shall be a citizen of the Union and there is no provision for a derogation from this article.

Eu Foreign Ministers Meeting

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers on 18 and 19 April.

[holding answer 21 April 1994]: I attended the Foreign Affairs Council on 18-19 April. My hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office also attended.In their statement on former Yugoslavia, Ministers condemned the continuing Bosnian Serb attacks on Gorazde and called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all detained United Nations personnel. They also called for an intensified diplomatic effort by the international community. This should involved the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia. It would aim to ensure the convergence of their initiatives and to bring about talks between the parties at an early date based on the European Union plan and taking into account the Washington accord and the talks on the Krajinas. An association council with Cyprus was held in the margins.The Council agreed a common position on the cohesion fund regulation which will govern the operations of the cohesion fund. The text will now be transmitted to the European Parliament for assent.

The President of the European Commission, Mr. Delors, gave a brief presentation to the Council on follow-up activity to the Commission's White Paper on growth, competitiveness and employment. He said that the Commission would focus on improving the functioning of the single market, paying particular attention to the fiscal and regulatory environment for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Commission presented ideas for enhancing the European Union relationship with Ukraine. Discussion will continue at a future FAC.

The Council adopted a package of interim measures for discussion with the future South African Government, intended to send a strong political signal in support of the transition to democracy. The measures include trade and economic co-operation, a special development co-operation programme and political dialogue. A long-term relationship will be discussed subsequently, should the new Government wish.

The Council agreed a joint action on the middle east to assist the European Union's policy of political and economic support for the middle east peace process. The text of the joint action is being deposited in the House Library.

Ministers agreed that preparations to launch the European Union's initiative for a pact on stability in Europe at a conference in Paris on 26-27 May were proceeding well. Ministers will review progress again at the Foreign Affairs Council on 16 May. The Council agreed provisional guidelines for financing actions under the common foreign and security policy.

The Commission introduced its proposal for a directive establishing the arrangements to allow citizens of the Union residing in a member state of which they are not nationals to vote and stand as a candidate in municipal elections. The proposal was broadly welcomed by the Council. There will be discussions in the Home Affairs Council on 21 April.

The Council welcomed applications for European Union membership from Poland and Hungary and invited the Commission to prepare its opinions on the applications.

The Council was unable to confirm an agreement reached in the Committee of Permanent Representatives on the application by The Guardian newspaper for access to a number of Council documents under the code of conduct on the right of access to information.

The Council underlined the importance of rapid completion of negotiations towards a partnership and co-operation agreement with Russia and invited the Commission to explore Russian proposals relating to trade in nuclear material.

The Council reached agreement on allocating the remaining European Union fish quotas gained under the European economic area—EEA—agreement. It agreed the internal allocation of North Norway cod among Spain, Portugal and Ireland; and Icelandic redfish among the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium and France.

The Council heard a report on the state of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development negotiations on state aids for shipbuilding. The Council hoped that the negotiations, which were approaching a conclusion, could be finalised soon. The Council emphasised the importance of an agreement permitting competition rules to function better.

The Council remitted the Commission request to send its draft decision for concluding the Uruguay round to the European Parliament to COREPER for examination.

Germany made a statement reserving its right to pursue its case against the EC banana regime in the European Court of Justice and to object to the proposed changes agreed with the Latin Americans. Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands associated themselves with the statement.

No formal vote was taken.

European Union

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 445, concerning the nature of the contacts between his Office and that of Mr. Delors, if he will state the names and offices of the persons giving and receiving the respective assurances; and if he will place a copy of the recipients' notes in the Library.

As my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs made clear in the House on 30 March, and as my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office made clear on 12 April, the assurances we received from the Commission were given with the full authority of Mr. Delors. The discussions between the Commission and ourselves were conducted on a confidential basis and I do not intend to breach their confidentiality. Nor do I see any need to do so: we have informed the House fully of the outcome of those discussions.

Scotland

Co-Operatives

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures he intends to put in place to encourage the development of co-operatives in the manufacturing, distribution, wholesale, retail, marketing, finance and housing sectors; and if he will make a statement.

I refer the hon. Member to my answer of 10 February 1994 and to that of my hon. Friend the Minister responsible for education and housing in Scotland dated 17 February 1994.In order to encourage the development of marketing co-operatives the Government will introduce, later this year, the marketing development scheme, which is intended to help producers and processors improve their marketing and commercial expertise. In addition the Scottish Agricultural Society receives Government funding to carry out on behalf of the Scottish Office co-operative development work among farmers.The Government's Deregulation and Contracting Out Bill provides a general deregulatory power which will enable burden on business to be removed by secondary legislation. The illustrative list of uses for this general power, published alongside the Bill, includes proposals for credit unions and industrial and provident societies. These measures, when implemented, will remove restrictions on co-operatives and enable them to streamline their procedures. That, in turn, should encourage the continued growth of the sector.

Local Enterprise Companies

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proposals he has to require local enterprise companies to publish and make available to the public a corporate plan or any other mechanism to increase the information available to the public about their activities.

The local enterprise companies are required by their operating contracts with Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise to publish synopses of their operating and business plans—analogous to a corporate plan—in addition to their annual reports and accounts. They are further required to publicise and hold annually a meeting open to members of the public.

Infertility Treatment

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list those hospitals which have contracts with purchasers to provide infertility treatments, giving their average and lengthiest waiting times for first appointments and commencement of treatment for (a) those on the hospital's own list, (b) those who are accepted for treatment under a contractual arrangement with a fundholding GP and (c) those who are accepted under a contractual arrangement with a health board outside its own area;(2) if he will list the average waiting time for infertility treatment to begin at each hospital providing this service, in each year since such services began.

Hospitals which have contracts in 1994–95 to provide infertility services are listed. Information on waiting times for first appointments and commencement of infertility treatment is not held centrally.

Hospitals with contracts in 1994–95 to provide Infertility Treatment

Aberdeen Royal Infirmary
Borders General Hospital
Caithness General Hospital
Crosshouse Hospital, Kilmarnock
Dundee Teaching Hospital
Eastern General Hospital, Edinburgh
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary
Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Glasgow Western Infirmary
Hairmyres Hospital, East Kilbride
Inverclyde Royal Hospital, Greenock
Law Hospital, Carluke
Monklands District General Hospital, Lanarkshire
Ninewells Hospital, Dundee
Queen Margaret Hospital, Dunfermline
Raigmore Hospital, Inverness
Royal Alexandra Hospital, Paisley
St. John's at Howden, West Lothian
Southern General Hospital, Glasgow
Stirling Royal Infirmary
Stobhill Hospital, Glasgow
Stonehouse Hospital, Lanarkshire
Vale of Leven District General Hospital
Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy
Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow

Bus Manufacturing Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many people were employed in the bus manufacturing industry in Scotland in 1984; and what is the current total.

There is no information available from official sources in the form requested.

Knives

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) charges and (b) convictions there have been under the Carrying of Knives etc. (Scotland) Act 1993 in each of the police authority areas of Scotland.

[holding answer 19 April 1994]: Information on the number of charges is not collected centrally. Information on the number of persons proceeded against and convicted where the main charge was an offence under the Carrying of Knives etc. (Scotland) Act 1993 will not be available until later this year.

Prison Escort Services

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prisoners have escaped while under escort in each of the past seven years; in how many such cases discipline charges were proceeded against those officers carrying out the escort duties; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 13 April 1994]: Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Scottish Prison Service under its chief executive, Mr. E. W. Frizzell. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

Letter from E. W. Frizzell to Dr. Norman Godman, dated 22 April 1994:

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton has asked me to reply to your question about the number of escapes of prisoners from escorts in the last 7 years and in how many such cases discipline charges were proceeded against officers carrying out escorting duties.

The information requested on the number of escapes is published annually in the Scottish Prison Service Annual Reports and is as follows:

Escapes from escorts
Year	Prisoners	Young offenders
1987	10	20
¹1988–89	26	15
1989–90	9	9
1990–91	13	12
1991–92	14	5
1992–93	24	5
1993–94	9	3
¹15-month period.

To provide figures for the number of cases where discipline charges were instituted within the last 7 years would only be achieved at disproportionate cost. The figure for the period 1 April 1992 to 31 March 1994 is 14.

Police (Privatisation)

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what assessment he has made of whether there are sections of the police service that could be operated by the private sector; and what proposals he has for any such initiatives.

My right hon. Friend keeps under review value for money in the police service, including whether any tasks undertaken by police forces could be fulfilled by other agencies, but he has at present no proposals in this area.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what role he sees for market testing in the police service.

The Government intend to extend compulsory competitive tendering to maintenance and repair of police motor vehicles and to cleaning of police buildings.

Trade And Industry

Improper Trading Practices

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many actions have been brought in the United Kingdom each year as a result of article 86 of the EEC treaty.

I am aware of three cases before the English courts in 1993 in which pleadings involved article 86 of the EC treaty. Information for earlier years is not readily available.Main decisions and measures taken by the Commission of the European Communities under the competition provisions of the EC treaty are described in the Commission's annual reports on competition policy which are available in the Library of the House.

Copyright

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what steps are being taken by the Board of Trade to ensure copyright protection and enforcement is being carried out or prepared in (a) eastern Europe and (b) China.

The Government are fully supporting European Community initiatives to achieve effective protection of copyright in eastern Europe, since we believe that this is now the most effective way of bringing influence to bear in that area. Six countries in the region—Bulgaria, the Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, Poland and Romania—have now signed association agreements with the Community, a specific condition of which is that both the level of intellectual property protection and the means of enforcing rights must be brought up to a standard comparable to that in the Community.My Department has also been active over several years in making representations to the Chinese authorities to the effect that China should enact copyright laws conforming to international standards of protection, which they have now done. China's recent accession to the Berne copyright convention and the phonograms convention means that China is obliged to protect British and other foreign rights owners under their new laws to at least the same standard as their own nationals, and the Government will take up with the Chinese authorities any failure to meet these obligations where clear evidence exists.Moreover, the recently concluded general agreement on tariffs and trade sets standards both on the level of copyright protection and on its enforcement, and includes remedies for failure to meet these standards. China hopes to become a party to the GATT and will, therefore, be expected to abide by these standards.

"Economy In Government" Competition

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish the guidelines used to ensure political impartiality in relation to the Adam Smith Institute's "Economy in Government" competition; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 13 April 1994]: The Department of Trade and Industry has no connection with the competition. Members of staff wishing to enter in a private capacity are still subject to the normal rules of conduct applying to civil servants including the duty of confidentiality and the need to avoid political controversy.

Private Security Firms

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many private security firms have been employed by his Department for each of the last 10 years; what has been the annual value of the contracts; and if he will estimate how many guards have been employed for each of those years.

The information requested could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Firework Injuries

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish statistics for firework injuries for 1993.

[holding answer 21 April 1994]: I published the statistics for firework injuries for 1993 on 20 April in answer to a written question from my hon. Friend the Member for Southport (Mr. Banks), Official Report, column 518.

Professor Peter Moizer

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how he secured the secondment of Professor Peter Moizer; what are the terms of the secondment, its objectives and its cost to his Department; whether Professor Moizer will seek public evidence or hold public hearings in making his report; and if his final report will be made public.

Professor Moizer was engaged after a normal competitive tendering process to assist my Department in its review of the monitoring regimes of the recognised supervisory bodies for company auditors. The professor accepted a standard DTI contract of service; it is not my Department's policy to reveal the cost of individual contract engagements. Professor Moizer has submitted his report to the Department. I believe that it will be useful to all concerned if, in due course, as much of the report as possible is made public.

Sizewell B

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will make a statement on the reason for the delay in the opening of the Sizewell B nuclear plant.

Nuclear Electric remains confident that Sizewell B will be brought into operation ahead of its committed 72-month timetable.

Coal Industry Privatisation

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what discussions he has had with the chairman of British Coal about future redundancy payments for mineworkers after 30 April; and if he will make a statement.

Both my right hon. Friend, the President of the Board of Trade and I meet the chairman of British Coal as necessary to discuss a wide variety of matters affecting the coal industry, including the funding of British Coal's redundancy arrangements. I understand that British Coal has told the unions that it will inform them as soon as possible of its proposals for redundancy arrangements for industrial workers to apply after 30 April.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has to extend redundancy schemes and payments for mineworkers after the privatisation of British Coal; and if he will make a statement.

Any redundancy arrangements after the privatisation of British Coal, including any in excess of the statutory requirements, will be a matter for private sector employers. Under the Coal Industry Bill, the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 will apply where there is a transfer of an undertaking or part of an undertaking. In such circumstances, the terms and conditions under contracts of employment at the time of transfer will transfer to the successor companies.In accordance with TUPE, British Coal will consult trade union representatives about any proposed transfers. The details about what will, or will not transfer, including redundancy terms in excess of the statutory requirements, depend on the specific facts of each case, and are best pursued in the course of those consultations.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what are the planned payments to the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation for the next 10 years and comparable payments made during the last five years expressed at constant prices; and if he will make a statement.

The Government's proposals for the Coal Industry Social Welfare Organisation involve assured funding of £15 million—£5 million taking the form of an annual payment of £1 million for five years, and £10 million taking the form of a capital endowment, the income of which would be available for current expenditure. The funding of CISWO for the past five years has been a matter for British Coal.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what financial assistance he plans to make available to companies that buy collieries after the privatisation of British Coal to fund redundancy payments.

I have no such plans.

Racecourse Holdings Trust

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will refer the recent acquisition by the Racecourse Holdings Trust of United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd. to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.

In accordance with advice from the Director General of Fair Trading, my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade announced on 25 February 1994 his decision not to refer the proposed acquisition by Racecourse Holdings Trust Ltd. of United Racecourses (Holdings) Ltd. to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission because it did not raise competition or other relevant concerns warranting scrutiny by the MMC.

Attorney-General

Commonwealth Law Conference

To ask the Attorney-General what staff of his Department attended the Commonwealth law conference in Cyprus during September 1993.

No member of my chambers attended the Commonwealth law conference in Cyprus in May 1993. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Director of the Serious Fraud Office both attended.

Defence

United Kingdom Forces

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the implications of the United Kingdom's membership of the European Union for the command and deployment of United Kingdom forces.

The United Kingdom's membership of the European Union has no direct implications for the command and deployment of United Kingdom forces, as the EU has no current jurisdiction in the defence field. The EU has placed responsibility for developing and implementing its decisions which have defence implications upon the Western European Union. The WEU is an autonomous organisation, and not all members of the EU are full members of the WEU. The WEU is being developed as the defence component of the EU and as a means of strengthening the European pillar of NATO, which remains fundamental to ensuring European security and stability. Development of the WEU is likely to have implications for the command and control of United Kingdom forces involved in operations with other European allies. In future such operations may take place under the control of the WEU, using assets shared with NATO.

Military Exercises

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proposals he has for increasing the separation between controlled airspace and areas used for military exercises.

The responsibility for such matters lies with the National Air Traffic Services with which my Department works closely in order to ensure that all aspects of civil and military flight safety are fully taken into account. There are currently no such proposals, but the use of airspace is kept under continuous review.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to announce new orders for replacement ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

As part of our ongoing programme to maintain an up-to-date Royal Fleet Auxiliary, we invited tenders on 6 April for certain aspects of the feasibility studies for new auxiliary oilers. These vessels are planned to replace the "0" class front-line tankers around the turn of the century.

D-Day Anniversary

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with ex-service men's organisations about financial barriers faced by veterans to participation in celebrations of the 50th anniversary of D-day; what proposals he has to make financial assistance available to such veterans; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has no formal responsibility for ex-service men's or widows' organisations, which are privately funded, and we are not therefore in a position to provide financial assistance to those who wish to travel to the 50th anniversary commemorations.There is, however, separate provision in the form of the widows grant-in-aid scheme which has been running for 10 years. The scheme provides financial assistance to those widows who lost their husbands overseas between 1914 and 1967 to make one visit to the grave or memorial as appropriate.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the numbers of veterans of D-day who are currently living; what assessment he has made of the numbers of those veterans who would welcome the opportunity to visit the site of their involvement; and what specific action he is taking to facilitate such visits.

The number of D-day veterans who are currently living is not known. There are some 9,000 to 10,000 members of the Normandy Veterans Association, but there will be other D-day veterans who are not members of the NVA.The level of interest in those events being managed by my Department, both in the Portsmouth area and in Normandy, is high. We have had over 12,000 applications for tickets for the ceremonies in Normandy. The numbers in the Portsmouth area are difficult to judge because one of the events—the Drumhead service on Southsea common on the morning of 5 June 1994—is open to the general public.Although veterans and veterans' organisations should make their own arrangements for transport and accommodation, my Department is liaising with the appropriate authorities in Portsmouth and in Normandy to ensure they have a successful visit.

Homosexuality

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to publish the new regulations in respect of the treatment of homosexuality in the armed forces; and what is the rationale behind these proposed new regulations.

As foreshadowed in my closing speech during the debate on discipline in the armed forces on 21 June 1993, Official Report, column 143, new tri-service guidelines have been drawn up to reflect current policy and procedure. These new guidelines, a copy of which have been placed in the Library of the House, were distributed down the services' chain of command in March 1994.

Northern Ireland

Consultants

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what information technology consultants his Department has employed and for what purpose and at what total cost for each of the last five years.

The information requested is listed.

Year 1989–90—Total cost £1,646,805

Consultant and Purpose

DE Barnard Systems

IT Strategy

To devise a common Information Technology strategy for the Countryside and Wildlife, Historic Monuments and Buildings Branches

Capita

Strategy Consultancy

Local Area Network at Newforge, Science Service

To provide a management accountant, acceptance testing manager and script writer to advise on the Integrated Computer System in Roads Service

HPSS Superannuation

Software Ireland

VALCOM Project

Companies Registry

Word Processing Systems

Unix Operating Systems

PA Consultancy

COMTOD Project

To develop a telecommunications strategy for the expansion of the Ordnance Survey for NI topographical database system into a multi user Province wide network

Oracle

Software Development

To provide advice and support during design and development of the Works Service MAIS project using the ORACLE relational database and toolset.

Maternity System

Butler Cox

Butler Cox Foundation

Syntek

Software Development

Transit Consultancy

SD Consultancy

Butler Cox Foundation

ICL

Software Development

VME Series 39

Girocheque Reconciliation

AIMS Ireland

SSADM Consultancy

IT Strategy Systems and Data Architecture Study

DPP UK Ltd.

Software Consultancy

Examine Data Communications system—Animal Health

P E Computers

CISD Market Test

MBP Systems

Software Consultancy

Quadratron

Software Development

Coopers and Lybrand

Strategy Consultancy

NI Emigration Database

Computerisation of Social Security Benefits

Departmental IT Strategy Plan

Local Area Network Study

General Ledger System

Uniplex

Software Development

Consultant employed by Wang (U.K.) Ltd.

Scoping Study of E Mail System in NIO

Belmin

Purchasing System

British Telecom

Telecoms Service Project

Touche Ross

Review Telecoms Draft Statement

Financial computerisation study

University of Ulster

General Accounting and Financial Information

CCTA

Identify options for linking cattle markets to the Animal Health System

CAPITA Muir and Addy

Development work on IT Strategy

BIS BEECOM (International) Ltd.

To advise on specialised communication aspects of the Integrated Computer Project in Roads Service

Peter Hyde

To advise on the organisation, management and job changes required as a result of the Integrated Computer System in Roads Service.

Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Ltd.

Advice on Management Accounting aspects of the Integrated Computer Project in Water Service

Metron TEC Ltd.

Equipment Performance Monitoring

MDISL

Equipment Performance

BIC Systems

Unix Operating Systems

SCO Ltd.

Unix Operating Systems

EOSYS Ltd.

Local Area Network Study

Silicon Bridge

Clinical Software

Elite Consultancy Services

Project Cost Monitoring System

CICA Services

Computer Aided Design Systems

Cheltonian International

Panorama System

T Morris and D. Shaw

Job Satisfaction Survey

Skytronics

Course Booking System

Year 1990–91—Total cost £1,287,809

DBI Associates

IS Strategy Review

Review of Departmental IT Strategy

Oracle UK Ltd.

Software Development

Oracle Software

To assist in the quality assurance of completed software products for the Works Service MAIS system

Quadratron Systems

Software Development

SD Consultancy

Butler Cox Foundation

Capita

Land Procurement Project

Management/IT, acceptance testing manager and script writers for Roads Service Integrated Computer System

ICL

System Upgrading

Giro Reconciliation Project

Transaction Processing for POP Census 1991

PA Consulting

NIGIS Project

Roads Service Geographical Information System

Hedra Ltd.

Market Testing

BSS Ltd.

Software Consultancy

Coopers & Lybrand

Market Testing

Implementation of IT Strategy Plan

Implementation of Operational Strategy Projects

1991 Population Census

Financial Information Systems

Local Area Network Cabling in DHSS

DIKTAT Systems

Training Consultancy

Kainos Software

Software Consultancy

Syntek Ltd.

VALCOM Project

AIMS Ireland

SSADM Consultancy

Compensation Recovery Project

IT Strategy Studies

LBMS PLC

PROMPT Consultancy

WS Atkins

HRMS Project

To provide advice on the technical options available in the event of the Roads Integrated Computer System contractor deciding on terms unacceptable to the Department

Belmin

Purchasing System

Price Waterhouse

Telecoms Project

Kermon Associates

Telecoms Service Study

OSI Group PLC

Telecoms Service Study

CCTA

Telecoms Project.

McDonnell Douglas Information Systems

ROSI-DEC Communication Consultancy and Demonstrations.

Dr B Farrington

Provide a detailed assessment of Roads Integrated Computer System contractual dispute and provide advice on a negotiating strategy.

BIS Beecom (International) Ltd.

Reassessment of benefits which Integrated Computer System would have provided. Identify and quantify functionality which may have been incorporated in Roads ICS Release 1 additional to contractual requirements.

Oracle.

Peat Marwick McClintock

Technical advice in connection with Roads Service Integrated Computer System.

Dr S Port

Work Design computer study, technical computer configuration for Roads Service.

Capita Muir and Addy

Financial Systems Strategy.

Tender Evaluation.

Capital Charges System.

Superannuation Tender Evaluation.

Elite Consultancy Services

Project Cost Monitoring System.

Capital Planning Resources Allocation System.

T Morris and D Shaw

Job Satisfaction Survey.

Touche Ross

Integrated Complementing System Project.

SCOLL

Computer Security.

CRAMM.

Systems Source Ltd.

GP Computers—Phase 1 and 2.

Logical Choice

Open Systems Picmigration.

Software Ireland

Open Systems Integration.

Softlab

CRAMM.

Year 1991–92—Total cost £1,229,658

ICS Computing

OSS Project

To advise on Software problems and system updates for PDP computer system based in Northland House

Inst. Software Engineering

CASE Consultancy

Information Strategies

OSS Project

NCC Ltd.

OSS Project

Synaptics

Project Management

Implementation of X400 Managing

Lorien Group

Oracle and SSADM

Computer Search and Selection

Programming Language for PRO

Software Ireland

OSS Project

Lucas Management

Artemis VMS Project

CLASS Ltd.

SSADM Consultancy

Belmin

Purchasing System

CFM

VLO Contingency

Price Waterhouse

Telecoms Service Study

Kermon Associates

Telecoms Service Study.

CCTA

Telecoms Project

IT Approval Projects

Advice on contingency and open systems for the Animal

Health System

System Consulting Study

Review Information Systems Strategy

Portfolio Systems

Advice on use of development language and operating system for the Grants and Subsidies project

Unisys Ltd

Sizing capacity of the Animal Health System for contingency purposes

Hedley Computer Consultants

To check the Animal Health System to identify potential problem areas before the Spring business peak

Touche Ross

Information Systems Strategy Scoping Study in the Education Service

AMIS Project

ICS Project—Complementing mode extensions

SSO Monitoring Model and Local Office Factors

Information Systems Strategy Studies

Feasibility Lab Study I and 2

Amendment to SSO complementing model

Digital Equipment Co.

Development of IT Contingency Plan Procedures Manual Networking Review of Digital Equipment in DENI

McDonnell Douglas Information Systems

Consultancy on Civil Service Payroll Interface with CARS

Logicom

Feasibility Study into Facilities Management

Software Support

Software Tailoring

Oracle

Software Support

Quad ratron

Software Installation Reviews

HELM Corporation

Specialist Advice on IT Accountancy System for Ordnance Survey (NI)

Replacement of Rate Collection Agency Computer System

Coopers & Lybrand

To prepare an Information Systems Strategy for Water Service Water Service Geographical Information System

IT Strategy for Rate Collection Agency—Phases I and II HPSS Hospital In-Patient System

Computerisation options for Land Registry with particular attention to the NI Geographic Information System.

Financial Systems

Review of 1990 Social Security Benefits Computerisation Plan Health and Personal Social Services

Data Management and Project Control Procedures Replacement of Mental Health Records System

Integrated Complementing System Project—Central Operations Monitoring Model

PA Consulting Group

Roads Service Geographical Information System

Review of Personnel Arrangements (OCAO)

Dr B Farrington

Provide a detailed assessment of Roads Service Integrated Computer System

contractual dispute and provide advice and negotiating strategy

DBI Associates Ltd.

To prepare an Information Systems Strategy for the Roads Service (including supplementary study into best use of IBM 3090 with Department)

Crawford W

To advise on Nature Conservancy Council Recorder System

Campbell Associates

To record and update open areas within Belfast

Water Research Centre

Arddvart System for Water Executive

SCOLL

CRAMM Security Review

Softlab

CRAMM PAS Review

Insight

CRAMM PAS Review

Delta Performance Systems

Comp Based Training

Aims Ireland

Prince Management Standard

Project Approval Mechanisms

MDISL

Capacity Planning

Park Place Training

Prince and PID

Ernst and Young

Fin Systems Support

BIC Systems

Oracle for Prescription Pricing

Introductory Guides to DHSS Network

ISG Project

Capita

Accident and Emergency Radiology Systems

T Morris and D Shaw

Job Satisfaction Survey

ICL

Transaction Processing Element on Pop Census

Investigation of Problems in Data Dictionary for Giro Reconciliation System

ADVEC

Report on UTP Data Cabling in Castle Court

Elite Consultancy Services

Revision of Project Cost Monitoring System

KPMG

Personnel Review

Year 1992–93—Total cost £1,025,631

CSC Index

Butler Cox Foundation

Corporate Information Management

OSS Project

SD Consultancy

Butler Cox Foundation

Kainos Software

OSS Project

Information Systems Ltd.

OSS Project

Security and Standards

OSS Project

CFM Ltd.

Software Consultancy

Oracle Programmer for development of Driver and Vehicle Testing

Agency Computerised Booking System

Date Capture for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency Computerised Booking System

Systems Development for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency

Digital Equipment Co.

PRINCE Consultancy

To undertake project management for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency

Pathworks (LAN) Software implementation

Oracle (UK) Ltd.

Oracle Consultancy

Database Development Support

Consultancy

Quality Assurance of Database Design for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency.

NCC Ltd.

OSS Project

CCTA

Scoping Study

Telecoms Project

To appraise the way forward for the implementation of a computerised accounting system within DANI in the context of NICS policy on convergence

Facilities Management Support

Quality Assurance of IS Strategy

CSA Support

Belmin

Purchasing System

OSI Group plc

Telecoms Billing

ITAT Associates Ltd.

Datacoms Network

Purchasing Index (UK) Ltd

Purchasing Index

Elite Consultancy

Lotus Training

Rewrite of the PCM System

University of Ulster

Introduction to Personal Applications

Stonehenge Consultancy Services Ltd.

Study to advise on strategic, operational and data management issues as part of a Client Database investigation

Capita Management Consultants Ltd.

Delivery and Quality Assurance of a Framework Report for Geographical Information System

Accident and Emergency Radiology Systems

Hewlett-Packard Ltd.

Linking of equipment to the Laboratory Information Management System at the Veterinary Sciences Division

Portfolio Systems

Advice on software development and hardware procurement for the Grants and Subsidies System

Systar Ltd.

A Capacity Management Study to consider the efficiency of and identify any problem areas in the Animal Health System

To assist in completing acceptance tests of a contingency Animal Health System, by a comparative analysis with the existing system of the capacity and performance of both systems

Unisys Ltd.

Load Analysis of the Animal Health System

Touche Ross and Co.

Information Systems Strategy Study

Amendments to Integrated Complementing System Models

Laboratories Systems Study

Hoskyns

Systems Administration Support

GP Fundholding

Coopers and Lybrand

Full Study Report on Computerised Charging Regime for Water Privatisation

Division

Assistance with preparation of a Technical Specification for the Unix Processor

Briefing to DCC on the Strategy Structures for RCA and Land Registry

To prepare an Information Systems Strategy for the Water Service

Study of Future Computerised Financial Systems for Water Executive

Information System Strategy for Rate Collection Agency

Development of Programme for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency Productivity Models and Reports

Computerisation Options for Land Registry

Strategic Planning of Introduction on Non-Operational Strategy Systems on STAP

IT Strategy of Child Support Agency

Health and Personal Social Services

DBI Associates Ltd.

Computerised Routes Procurement System for Roads Service

Telecoms Strategy Study for Roads Service

Aims Ireland Ltd.

Computerisation of Road Traffic Accident Data for Roads Service

Assets Management System for DOE (ISU)

Wellington Computer Systems

Software Development for Street Lighting Computerised Maintenance/Management System

Lorien Computers Ltd.

Systems Analysis for Feasibility Study for Roads Service Bridges Management System

ICS Computing Ltd.

Interim Review of Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency Booking System

HELM Corporation

Management Information and Accural Accouting System for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency

Siemens Nixdorf

Technical support for STAP cabling in offices

Blackhall Medical Centre

GP Fundholding

Insight

IT Security Standards

Park Applications

Fin Supplies Review

MDISL

Capacity Planning

Datapro

Unix Reports

Post Implementation

BIS

Prince Standards

Lan Strategy

Goldarrow

MSQL RDBMS

Intersystems

MSQL Advanced RDBM

CAMS

Clinical Read Codes

Business Objects

Specialised Technical Consultancy

PACE

Salaries Module for Social Security Agency

SYBEX

Design and development of Document Imaging Processing Project

Year 1993–94—Total cost £952,894

Coopers & Lybrand

Market Testing Project

Delivery and Quality Assurance of a Feasibility Study for Geographical

Information System

Revision to Centres Computerised Monthly Return System for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency

Review of Centralised Storage of Test Result Data for Driver and Vehicle Testing Agency

Introduction of Non Operational Strategy Systems on STAP

Review of Information Systems for Water Executive

Implementation of New Computerised Financial System in Water Executive

Procurement of customer billing system for Water and Sewerage Services

Oracle

Oracle Consultancy

Consultancy

Computer Associates

Superproject Consultancy

Synaptics

Corporate E Mail Project

Belmin

Purchasing System

AIMS Ireland Ltd.

Computerisation of Road Traffic Accident Data—Systems Analyst Input

CCTA

IT Market Testing

Review of DANI's IS Strategy

IS Strategy Definition

IT Health Check

Environment Service IS Strategy Study

Telecoms Project

NCC

E Mail Research

CFM Groups Ltd

Roads Service Computerised Fleet Management System—Interfaces to Accounting

Provision of additional Systems Analyst Resource for functional specifications for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency System

Consultation on Oracle Financials for the DANI Accounting System.

Stonehenge Consultancy Services Ltd.

Advise on a Request for Information to the Trade for potential Data Dictionary suppliers and evaluation of responses

Community Training and Research Services (CTRS)

Belfast Action Team Training Needs Analysis Computerised System

WS Atkins

Water Executive Computerised Asset Management Planning System

HELM Corporation

Roads Service Computerised Fleet Management System—Implementation Issues

Insight Consultancy

Water Executive Information Systems Security Review.

IT Security

Murtland and Partners

Roads Service Data Communications Design of Cabling Installations

DBI Associates

Roads Service Data Communications—Quality Assurance of Strategy

Implementation

IS Strategy for Works Service

Departmental Datacoms Strategy Review

Planning Service Data Communication Study

Syntech

Time Costing Management System for DoE (Information Systems Unit)

Kinesis

Evaluating possible development trends in connection with Public Records Office System

Digital Equipment Co. Ltd.

Project Management for Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency

Cambridge Consultants

Specialist Advice on Geographical Information System for DoE (ISU

MVM Consultants plc

Computerisation of Property Certificates Service—Planning Service

Spectrum Occam Solutions ORACLE (UK) Ltd.

Replacement computer system in Rate Collection Agency

Business Objects

Technical Consultancy

Price Waterhouse

Full Study Assignment NI Blood Transfusion

QMI

Resolution of System Performance

Sequelogic

Oracle Consultancy

Hewlett Packard

HPUX Script Dev

IBM

Shell Programming

Touche Ross

Business Case

Common Services Agency

GPASS V4.2

Sequel Technology

Oracle Based Systems

Data General

Script Development and Mgt Support

DMW Group Ltd.

Regional Strat Review

CEM Computers Ltd.

Consultancy

Pixel Innovations

VT52 Emulation.

Silicon Bridge Research

Report PAS Replace

Unidirect

Shellock Compiler

European Printing Services

Faxserver

Advec

PC to Lan Integration

Cray Consultancy

LLTA

Project Support

PACE

Amendments to the SSA Salary Module

Siemens Nixdorf

Prototype systems of Codes Automation, Customer Caller and Appointments Systems

Advanced Recognition Ltd.

Software Assessment

Housing Waiting Lists

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by county, the total numbers on housing waiting lists in Northern Ireland categorised as urgent need or A1; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. I am advised by its chief executive that the information requested is available only by Housing Executive region. The numbers of applicants with Al status at 31 March 1994 were as follows:—

NI housing executive region	AI applicants
Belfast	557
South East	325
South	156
North East	214
West	438
Total	1,690

Northern Ireland housing executive region	Number of applicants accepted as homeless
	(a) Families	(b) Single men	(c) Single women	(d) Couples without children	(e) Total
Belfast	495	169	177	36	877
South East	404	91	134	51	680
South	299	71	103	35	508
North East	361	93	117	34	605
West	545	122	186	69	922
Total	2,104	546	717	225	3,592

A further 2,947 applicants were accepted as homeless during the period but were not deemed to be in priority need and not therefore classified as above.

Transport Licensing

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the work undertaken by the transport licensing enforcement officers in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

This small but dedicated team of officers works very effectively, in occasionally difficult circumstances, to enforce the licensing requirements of both the Transport Act (Northern Ireland) 1967, and the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. Their efforts are appreciated by the legitimate haulage and passenger carrying operators who are best placed to provide the public with the services which they require in these important market sectors. The Public Accounts Committee

Trust Boards

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what criteria social workers will have to meet before being eligible for employment by the new trust boards; and if he will make a statement.

Social workers employed by HSS trusts in Northern Ireland will have to meet exactly the same criteria in terms of professional qualifications as social workers employed by the health and social services board in the units of management which remain under the direct management control of boards.

Homelessness

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list by county the total numbers of (a) families, (b) single men and (c) single women in Northern Ireland, who were registered as homeless during 1993 and 1994; and if he will make a statement.

This is a matter for the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. I am advised by its chief executive that the information is only available in relation to Al priority status, by Housing Executive region. The numbers of applicants accepted as homeless during the period 1 April 1993 to 28 February 1994 were:also recently commented favourably on the value of this enforcement effort in its report on road safety in Northern Ireland—1993–94 Session, 13th report.

Policing Costs

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the cost per head of population (a) for Northern Ireland and (b) for the United Kingdom of policing the border with the Republic of Ireland; and what estimates he has made of the comparable cost to the Republic of Ireland.

The information requested is not available.

United Ireland (Economic Benefits)

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the economic benefits of a United Ireland (a) to the island of Ireland and (b) to Great Britain.

None.

Electricity Industry

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what assessment he has made of the major interruptions to electricity supply in the constituency of South Down which have occurred since 1 April 1990; and if he will make a statement.

None. This is a matter for Northern Ireland Electricity plc in the first instance. In the event that NIE should fail to provide a satisfactory answer the matter can be pursued by the Director General of Electricity Supply for Northern Ireland.

Neil Latimer

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the current position on the case of Neil Latimer; and if he will make a statement.

When I responded to the Adjournment debate initiated by the hon. Member for Fermanagh and South Tyrone (Mr. Maginnis) on 23 February, Official Report, columns 408-16, I described my statutory power to refer a case to the Court of Appeal in Northern Ireland. The criterion which I would normally expect to be satisfied if I were to refer a case is that there should be some new evidence, or other consideration of substance, which has not previously been before the court and which now appears to cast doubt on the safety of the conviction. I also reiterated the central principle that it is not for Ministers to substitute their own assessment of the evidence in a particular case for that of the courts.My predecessor referred the cases of Mr. Latimer and his co-accused to the Court of Appeal because forensic tests showed that notes of police interviews with the appellants had been altered and falsely authenticated. Since Mr. Latimer's appeal was dismissed in July 1992 I have received a number of representations asking me again to refer his case to the Court of Appeal, but none has so far provided sufficient grounds to justify such a reference.I am at present obtaining advice on the further material referred to during the debate and will, as I undertook on 23 February, continue to give these matters the very careful consideration that they merit.

Volume 241: debated on Friday 22 April 1994

Written Answers To Questions

Home Department

United Racecourse (Holdings) Ltd

Parliamentary Boundaries

Asylum Applications, Burundi And Rwanda

Fire Safety (Retail Premises)

M11 Link Road

Education

Grant-Maintained Schools

Schools (Parents' Choice)

Sixth-Form Colleges

Private Security Firms

Prime Minister

Stephan Adolphus Kock

Environment

Urban Development Corporations

Water Pollution, Worcester

Lord Chancellor's Department

Mr Jeremy Turner

Employment

Parliamentary Questions

Asthma

Wales

Taff Merthyr Colliery

Unitary Authorities

Princess Of Wales Hospital

Hip And Knee Replacements

Health Statistics

Education

Environment

Wetland Birds

Transport

School Minibuses

Domestic Properties

Birmingham Northern Relief Road

Road Building And Maintenance

Jubilee Line

Heavy Goods Vehicles

Departmental Publications

Coastguard Agency

Treasury

Parliamentary Questions

Vat (Fuel)

Shipping Industry

Valuation Office Executive Agency

Taxation And Benefit Expenditure

Health

Nhs Trusts

Radioactive Material

Primary Care Deprivation Allowances

General Practitioners

Redundancies

Nurses And Midwives

Non-Executive Members (Health Authorities)

Cornwall Health

Secure Places

Medicines Control Agency

Patient Complaints

Social Security

Claimants, London

Vat (Fuel)

Child Support Agency

Invalidity Benefit, Brighton

Correspondence

Epilepsy

Overseas Development Administration

Pergau Dam

Sudan

Agriculture, Fisheries And Food

Fisheries Laboratory Experimental Station, Conwy

Glanders And Farcy

Racing Pigeons

National Heritage

Parliamentary Questions

National Lottery

Foreign And Commonwealth Affairs

Eu Citizenship

Eu Foreign Ministers Meeting