To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received on measures to improve the competitive position of the United Kingdom shipping fleet; and what measures he plans to introduce.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply the Chancellor of the Exchequer 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 the hon. Member for Pudsey (Sir G. Shaw) on 22 April at columns 691–92.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 19 April, Official Report, column 424, what is his estimate of the number of households potentially affected by the decision regarding retrospective revaluation of property.

Details of the number of dwellings which are likely to have their original bandings altered as a consequence of a sale in their locality have not been collected. However, I would expect the number of such alterations to represent only a very small fraction of the total number of alterations made to valuation lists.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will give the average income, occupational pension and income tax liability of the top 1 per cent., top 5 per cent. and top 10 per cent. of people in receipt of occupational pensions.

Latest available estimates using the 1991–92 survey of personal incomes are given in the table.

People in receipt of an occupational pension ranged by amount of occupational pension	Average amount of income (£)	Average amount of occupational pension (£)	Average income tax liability1 (£)
Top 1 per cent.	54,400	30,000	9,100
Top 5 per cent.	30,100	17,600	4,600
Top 10 per cent.	23,300	13,600	3,300
1 The figures are the tax liability on occupational pensions assuming that they represent the top slice of taxable income.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many farming enterprises have been allowed by Her Majesty's inspectors of taxes an extension of farm loss offset into the sixth and subsequent years in each of the last three tax years for which figures are available.

The information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the staff of each Newcastle tax office on (a) 1 April 1993 and (b) 1 April 1994; and if he will explain the cause of changes since April 1992.

The numbers of staff-in-post at the relevant dates are shown in the table.

	1 April 1993	1 April 1994
Newcastle 1	153	135
Newcastle 2	25	22
Newcastle 3	65	57
Newcastle 4	86	79
Total	329	293

The comparable total staff-in-post for the four offices at 1 April 1992 was 341. Between 1 April 1992 and 1 April 1994 there has been a reduction of 48 staff-in-post.About half the reduction relates to typists and secretaries.The 1 April 1994 figures exclude almost all typing and secretarial staff included at 1 April 1993. Inland Revenue North has carried out an efficiency scrutiny of its typing and secretarial services. Of 24 typists and secretaries in post at 1 April 1993 in the four Newcastle tax offices, two remain, 13 have transferred to other locations—including the Tyneside pool which handles Newcastle work—seven were offered, and accepted voluntary severance terms and two left the department for other reasons.Reasons for the remaining staff reductions in Newcastle tax offices include a reduced workbase reflecting a decrease in the number of schedule E and schedule D taxpayers the offices deal with, the transfer of trust work to a new office in Nottingham which specialises in such work and other procedural changes including simplification of end of year work on PAYE.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the relationship between the figures for the French trade surplus for the United Kingdom in the first half of 1993 as published in revised Intrastat figures in the Eurostat news letter "Edicom/Intrastat (1/94)" and the Central Statistical Office figures for the surplus and what assessment he has made of the effect of any discrepancy on the United Kingdom balance of payments deficit.

Figures in the Eurostat news letter are based on information supplied by member states, but they are, for many countries including the United Kingdom, incomplete. They include only data actually reported by traders without any estimates for the value of non-response or for traders operating below the Intrastat thresholds. As such, they are of limited usefulness. The Central Statistical Office publications include estimates for these amounts, and in its first release, the data are also shown on a consistent basis as used for the compilation of balance of payments estimates.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans he has to ensure that building societies routinely inform savers when their accounts become obsolete.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the towns in which food prices are checked for information to compile the national price index.

Prices for the retail prices index are collected from the areas around the local employment service offices given below:

How building societies choose to communicate with their members is a matter for them. A number of societies routinely transfer customers from obsolete accounts to the nearest equivalent active one. Sections 6.1 to 6.3 of the revised voluntary code of banking practice, published in March, set out standard practice for informing customers of the rates of interest paid on accounts. A copy of the code is in the Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions in the past five years his Department has suspended employees from duty without pay when they have been charged with a criminal offence but are still awaiting trial.

[holding answer 22 April 1994]: In the last five years there has been one case of an employee of the Treasury suspended without pay when charged with a criminal offence but still awaiting trial.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which grace-and-favour accommodation at the occupied and at the unoccupied royal palaces were liable to pay rates under the rates system of local government taxation; and on what basis it was assessed.

[holding answer 25 April 1994]: Under the rates system for domestic property in England and Wales which came to an end in March 1990 all grace and favour accommodation at the royal palaces which was occupied was liable to pay domestic rates. When accommodation, including grace and favour accommodation, was unoccupied no rates were payable. In Scotland the same position applied prior to the introduction of the community charge in April 1989. The basis of assessment was the same as for other domestic property, namely its annual rental value subject to deduction for assumed liability for repair.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what plans she has to make feline spongiform encephalopathy a notifiable disease; and how many cases she is aware of in each of the last five years.

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy in bovines, and scrapie in sheep and goats, are already compulsorily notifiable. We have consulted interested organisations on proposals that would mean that when a naturally occurring spongiform encephalopathy is suspected in any animal following laboratory examination of material, that suspicion should be notified to the Ministry. Legislation is being prepared on this.The number of cases of feline spongiform encephalopathy to date by year of onset of clinical signs is as follows:

Year of Onset	Number of cases
1989	1
1990	16
1991	9
1992	14
1993	8

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many reports she has received about spongiform encephalopathy in canines and if she will make a statement.

The Ministry has received no reports of confirmed cases of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies in canines.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if she will make a statement about bovine spongiform encephalopathy.

A further report on BSE in Great Britain is available today. I have arranged for copies to be placed in the Library of the House. The report details the continuing epidemiological evidence that the ruminant feed ban is effective in controlling the epidemic in the way which has been predicted. The number of reported cases up to 18 March 1994 is 19.9 per cent. below that of the same period in 1993–8,585 in 1994 compared with 10,718 in 1993—and 14.9 per cent. below 1992. The report also gives information about the wide-ranging research programme being undertaken by the Ministry, particularly relating to the transmission of the disease and tissue infectivity studies.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what tonnage of domestically reared lamb and sheep was produced in the United Kingdom for each year since 1979;(2) what quantity of domestically reared lamb and sheep exports were transported abroad

Details of domestic lamb and sheep production, and exports, are shown in the table.

United Kingdom production and export of mutton and lamb
Units: Thousand tonnes (meat equivalent)
		Exports2
	Domestically reared lamb and sheep production1	Carcase meat	Live
1979	238·7	40·9	7·7
1980	289·6	36·9	12·9
1981	272·6	37·5	14·0
1982	276·1	37·0	11·9
1983	297·5	43·3	10·7
1984	298·4	47·4	10·5
1985	313·7	48·8	10·5
1986	300·9	60·1	11·5
1987	310·8	71·2	19·3
1988	342·2	76·0	20·4
1989	385·4	89·4	19·9
1990	393·2	79·6	23·5
1991	418·0	79·9	33·0
1992	392·4	106·0	39·8
1993	377·1	129·1	45·9
1 Figures include an estimate for unrecorded exports from Northern Ireland to the Irish Republic.
2 Boneless items adjusted to carcase weight equivalent from 1985 (inclusive) onwards.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what are the qualifications and work experience of Mr. Gummer, recently appointed to head the Arts Council lottery committee.

Mr. Gummer was first appointed as a member of the Arts Council of Great Britain in 1991 and in March I appointed him as one of the first members of the Arts Council of England. Mr. Gummer's wide-ranging interest in the arts and his business and financial experience admirably qualify him to be chairman of the Arts Council's national lottery advisory panel.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many personnel from his Department were involved in Exercise Diver Mist; in what capacities they served; and what was the cost to his Department of this involvement.

Work was undertaken by four Home Office staff as part of their normal duties and is not therefore costed. Two of those staff were involved in the planning of the exercise and three observed different aspects of the exercise.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will bring forward plans to abolish or reform the House of Lords; and if he will make a statement.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place to prevent any influx of funds into the United Kingdom generated by criminal activities in the former Soviet Union.

New legislation which came into force earlier this year requires banks and other financial institutions to report knowledge or suspicion of drug money laundering to the law enforcement agencies and ecourages them to report other suspicious transactions without fear of prosecution for breach of customer confidentiality. It also makes the laundering of the proceeds of any serious crime a criminal offence. The National Criminal Intelligence Service, which receives all reports of suspicious transactions, and HM Customs and Excise have established channels of communications which enable them to co-operate with their counterparts in Russia and other countries in the former Soviet Union.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what assessment he has made of the extent to which mediation could be used as a more cost-effective means of resolving disputes than court proceedings;(2) what assessment he has made of the number of disputes which result in criminal cases where mediation would have resolved the dispute in a more cost-effective manner.

I would refer the hon. Member to the reply given to a question from the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill (Mr. Alton) on 8 March, Official Report, column 174. No comprehensive assessment has been made of the number of cases where mediation might have proved more cost effective than criminal proceedings.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 8 March, Official Report, column 174, to the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill, if he will publish the report of the inter-departmental working group on mediation in the criminal justice system.

No. The report of the interdepartmental working group, to which I referred in my answer to the hon. Member's question on 8 March, Official Report, column 174, examined a wide range of criminal justice issues in addition to its consideration of the possible value of mediation. It is an internal document prepared as advice for Ministers.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis on the circumstances in which a dumper truck was driven on to the railway line at West Drayton on Sunday 10 April and the action which the police are taking to trace and arrest those responsible; and if he will make a statement.

I understand from the Commissioner that his officers made the initial response to this incident, but that the matter is now being investigated by the British Transport police. It appears that at about 8 pm on Sunday, 10 April 1994, some youths entered a plant-hire site next to West Drayton railway station. A number of vehicles were driven around the site, causing damage; one was driven through the perimeter fence onto the adjacent railway line. It was driven off the line by one of the youths before the next train passed. The British Transport police have identified a number of witnesses and have interviewed two youths. No charges have yet been brought.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give an ethnic breakdown of police officers in each force in England and Wales in (a) 1980, (b) 1985, (c) 1990 and (d) 1993.

The information in the table is derived from the monthly strength returns provided to the Home Office by all police forces.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to relieve the pressure on capacity at Winson Green prison; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many extra police will be deployed in residential roads in London to enforce the lorry ban following the end of the exemption permit system for lorries operated by the London borough transport scheme.

The deployment of police officers for the enforcement of the London lorry ban is an operational matter for the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are his plans to safeguard victims and offenders in caution-plus schemes by maintaining practice standards such as those developed by Mediation UK.

We have at present no plans to issue or comment particular practice standards. The relatively few caution-plus schemes now operating are diverse in character and their value is still being assessed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the number and proportion of criminal cases in which the victim and the defendant are known to each other.

This information is not generally available centrally, except for the small number of offences such as incest where such a relationship can be assumed. In the case of offences of homicide, however, more extensive statistics are kept including details of known suspects and their relationship to victims.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which voluntary organisations are currently funded by the voluntary services unit.

The voluntary services unit currently funds the following voluntary organisations:

• Action-Employees in the Community.
• Association for Research in the Voluntary and Community Sector.
• Association of Chief Executives of National Voluntary Organisations.
• Association of Community Trusts and Foundations.
• British Association of Settlements and Social Action Centres.
• Bromley by Bow Centre.
• Charities Evaluation Services.
• Community Development Foundation.
• Community Matters.
• Community Radio Association.
• Community Service Volunteers.
• Federation of Community Work Training Groups.
• Festival Welfare Services.
• Homeless Network.
• Institute of Charity Fundraising Managers.
• Kent Committee for the Welfare of Migrants.
• Midland Refugee Council.
• National Association of Councils for Voluntary Service.
• National Association of Volunteer Bureaux.
• National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
• National Federation of City Farms.
• National Playbus Association.
• National Youth Agency.
• North East Refugee Service.
• Northern Refugee Centre.
• Refugee Action.
• Refugee Arrivals Project.
• Refugee Council.
• Resource Unit to promote Black Volunteering.
• Retired Executives Action Clearing House.
• Reunite.
• Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations.
• Scottish Refugee Council.
• SIA.

Notifiable offences recorded by the police
England and Wales
	Total	Violence against the person	Sexual offences	Robbery	Burglary	Theft and handling stolen goods	Fraud and forgery	Criminal damage	Other
Avon and Somerset	175,946	5,772	894	1,863	40,655	99,371	5,011	21,635	745
Bedfordshire	58,847	1,936	417	543	15,596	30,479	2,308	7,265	303
Cambridgeshire	65,807	2,821	393	308	15,023	37,726	1,786	7,326	424
Cheshire	80,156	2,975	465	345	22,034	38,653	2,693	11,913	1,078
Cleveland	78,279	2,227	216	336	18,738	41,246	1,496	13,694	326

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what performance bonuses were awarded to the Director General of the Prison Service in 1993.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Tooting (Mr. Cox) on 1 December 1993, Official Report, column 626.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 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.

In keeping with Government policy, my Department contracts out a number of services such as security guarding at non-sensitive sites where it is cost-effective to do so. These contracts cover services to escort and detain—under the authority of the Immigration Service—persons held under the Immigration Act 1971, to safeguard cash in transit from banks to Home Office establishments at various locations and to safeguard some premises.The number of personnel employed by contractors varies according to demand. I regret that it is not possible to provide the value of contracts over the last 10 years as no central record of cost of the services is maintained.The available information is as follows:

£
Police Staff College	286,800
Fire Service College	109,000
Emergency Planning College	98,000
Police Scientific Development Branch (Sandridge)	15,000

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were recorded in each category of crime by each police force in England and Wales in 1993.

The information requested is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the from a vehicle Home Department how many incidents of (a) theft or vehicle unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and (b) theft from a motor vhicle and (b) theft from a motor vehicle were recorded by each police force in England and Wales in 1993.

The information requested is given in the table below.

Notifiable offences of theft of and from a vehicle recorded by the police England and Wales 1993
Police force area	Theft from a vehicle	Theft of a vehicle
Avon and Somerset	36,839	25,399
Bedfordshire	11,480	8,801
Cambridgeshire	11,481	6,939
Cheshire	13,438	9,005
Cleveland	9,229	13,206
Cumbria	8,086	3,150
Derbyshire	16,647	9,421
Devon and Cornwall	23,608	8,349
Dorset	8,937	3,671
Durham	9,401	9,319
Essex	19,848	10,648
Gloucestershire	14,702	4,743
Greater Manchester	54,222	56,135
Hampshire	28,359	9,998
Hertfordshire	12,510	6,001
Humberside	20,141	13,465

Police force area	Theft from a vehicle	Theft of a vehicle
Kent	27,005	18,933
Lancashire	23,760	13,149
Leicestershire	17,440	11,749
Lincolnshire	6,626	3,644
City of London	655	142
Merseyside	17,271	16,287
Metropolitan Police District	153,576	77,096
Norfolk	12,850	4,445
Northamptonshire	9,804	7,638
Northumbria	24,571	28,559
North Yorkshire	9,268	5,033
Nottinghamshire	22,250	15,969
South Yorkshire	25,016	22,471
Staffordshire	16,758	10,853
Suffolk	5,993	2,530
Surrey	10,196	4,387
Sussex	20,703	7,664
Thames Valley	43,252	23,128
Warwickshire	8,918	5,153
West Mercia	14,736	8,653
West Midlands	54,741	40,184
West Yorkshire	48,851	38,240
Wiltshire	6,805	2,822
Dyfed-Powys	2,823	1,391
Gwent	6,683	3,737
North Wales	8,481	3,161
South Wales	28,126	23,063
England and Wales	926,086	598,331

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the (a) police establishment and (b) the number of supernumerary posts for (i) each police force area including the Metropolitan police and (ii) each part of the Metropolitan police, area divisions or headquarters establishments, for January 1994 and for January in each of the previous five years;(2) what was the

I will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many incidents of (a) burglary in a dwelling and (b) other burglary were recorded by each police force in England and Wales in 1993.

The information requested is given in the table:

Notifiable offences of burglary recorded by the police England and Wales 1993
Police force area	Burglary in a dwelling	Burglary in a building other than a dwelling
Avon and Somerset	21,454	19,201
Bedfordshire	7,287	8,309
Cambridgeshire	6,845	8,178
Cheshire	10,496	11,538
Cleveland	11,882	6,856
Cumbria	4,536	6,197
Derbyshire	10,083	15,529
Devon and Cornwall	15,837	16,741
Dorset	5,789	3,836
Durham	7,747	5,930
Essex	9,582	17,567
Gloucestershire	8,519	8,775
Greater Manchester	61,240	36,610
Hampshire	15,357	17,709
Hertfordshire	5,224	8,195
Humberside	20,067	27,964
Kent	18,971	11,772
Lancashire	18,725	10,825
Leicestershire	14,175	11,035
Lincolnshire	7,216	5,792
City of London	30	748
Merseyside	21,705	11,983
Metropolitan Police District	114,778	60,406
Norfolk	6,362	11,816
Northamptonshire	7,334	8,610
Northumbria	30,849	32,158
North Yorkshire	7,196	9,079
Nottinghamshire	23,453	16,585
South Yorkshire	25,230	27,166
Staffordshire	13,833	16,258
Suffolk	3,755	5,392
Surrey	5,867	6,948
Sussex	13,403	13,269
Thames Valley	22,061	18,284
Warwickshire	4,520	8,034
West Mercia	8,421	9,559
West Midlands	51,815	48,187
West Yorkshire	58,157	36,137
Wiltshire	4,489	4,629
Dyfed-Powys	1,567	3,065
Gwent	3,315	3,776
North Wales	3,917	8,073

Police force area	Burglary in a dwelling	Burglary in a building other than a dwelling
South Wales	14,478	23,710
England and Wales	727,567	642,431

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the incidence of intimidation of witnesses in criminal cases.

[holding answer 25 April 1994]: Although attempts are made from time to time to intimidate both potential and actual witnesses in criminal trials, there is no reliable evidence about the extent of this problem. In different ways, both the Government and the police service have taken, and will continue to take, steps to minimise its incidence and effect.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 18 April, Official Report, column 370, if he will list the district auditor's reports referred to; what were the dates and places of the criminal proceedings referred to; and which councils were involved.

[holding answer 22 April 1994]: Criminal proceedings are a matter of public record. Various district auditors' reports, for example, which are publicly available, confirm my earlier answers.

To ask the Prime Minister how many contracts the Government have awarded since 1987 to Sir Tim Bell for public relations work; and if he will list their nature and value.

Information on Government contracts is not held centrally and would involve disproportionate cost to obtain.]The Department of National Heritage let a contract to Lowe Bell Communications on 24 January to help with its programme of civilian events to commemorate the 50th anniversay of the D-day landings. The value of the contract is £50,000 plus a maximum of £12,500 for expenses, net of VAT. The Department has not let any other contracts to Lowe Bell Communications.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 April.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 26 April.

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in this House I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current average monthly cost of the British service men on active duty in the former Yugoslavia and the Adriatic.

The additional monthly cost of the United Kingdom's contribution to operations in the former Yugoslavia and the Adriatic is approximately £8,750,000. This includes such things as accommodation—allowances —shipping—carriage of stores—vehicle spares and repair and medical supplies. There are currently some 6,360 United Kingdom personnel deployed on these operations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's assessment of the linkage between atomic testing on Christmas Island and reported cases of chronic sickness, including aneurism, among ex-service men involved in the tests.

The recent report published by the National Radiological Protection Board concluded that participation in the nuclear weapon testing programme has not had a detectable effect on the participants expectation of life nor their risk of developing cancer or other fatal diseases. The condition known as aneurism, although potentially fatal, is not accepted as being a radiation-related illness.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which air forces have carried out air training exercises over Wales during 1993 and 1994; how many sorties have taken place for the last three available years; and if he will make a statement.

My noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much was spent in (a) 1991, (b) 1992 and (c) 1993 on providing military training in overseas countries; and if he will list the countries involved.

I have been asked to reply.Foreign and Commonwealth Office expenditure on providing resident and short-term military training assistance in overseas countries was £10.9 million in financial year 1991–92, £9.2 million in 1992–93 and £7.6 million, estimated, in 1993–94. Countries involved are Angola, Antigua, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Chile, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Grenada, Indonesia, Jamaica, Latvia, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Philippines, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list each appointment for which a Minister has to approve the appointment or shortlist for the appointment, showing for each appointment (a) which Minister exercises the responsibility, (b) the salary, if any, attached to the post, (c) the term of the appointment and (d) the person currently appointed to the post.

My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is responsible for a total of over 850 public appointments. The readily available information about the public appointments for which my right hon. Friend is responsible is published regularly in "Public Bodies". A full list of the public appointments made by this Department has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what liaison occurs between his Department and regulatory authorities on the making and termination of appointments;(2) under what circumstances he has the power to veto an appointment made by regulatory authorities.

[holding answer 25 April 1994]: My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is responsible for the appointments of the Director Generals of Electricity, Gas Supply and Telecommunications. The Director Generals are responsible for the appointment of their own staff.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what guidelines are issued to regulatory authorities on how to (a) make and (b) terminate appointments.

:OFFER, Ofgas and Oftel operate under the terms of the civil service management code in relation to staff appointments in the same way as any Government Department.