To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans her Department has (a) to utilise the Internet, (b) to make available on the Internet press releases and other departmental information which the public wish to have access to and (c) to use the Internet as a means of increasing the openness of her Department.

The Department's press releases issued electronically through the Central Office of Information are accessible to users of the Internet via Data-Star Dialog (Europe) or Mead/Lexis/Nexis. They are also available to subscribers to FT Profile, Reuters Textline and to POLIS.The Department's press releases are also available through the COI's fax retrieval service, details of which can be provided by their news distribution service.There are no further plans to use Internet.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance she has issued relating to charges for eye tests and visual field tests; and if she will make a statement.

No guidance has been issued about charges for eye sight tests and visual field tests. Under the general ophthalmic services certain groups of people are entitled to a free sight test on the national health service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she expects to meet the target of 72-hour maximum contracts for junior doctors by 31 December.

Returns from regional task forces for the six months to 31 March 1994 are currently being analysed. We will make an announcement in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she will take to introduce the licensing and registration of denturists and dental technicians following the Nuffield report;(2) if she will take steps to establish a separate profession of clinical dental technicians covered by legislation.

Under the terms of the Dentists Act 1984 it is for the General Dental Council to make regulations to establish classes of dental auxiliaries who may undertake dental work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates she has made of the number of dentures fitted by denturists and dental technicians; and what percentage this represents of the total number of dentures fitted.

The Dentists Act 1984 does not permit dental technicians to fit dentures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 28 April, Official Report, column 307, how many hospital consultant posts have been vacant, by specialty, in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

The information is shown in the table.This indicates trends in consultant vacancies notified to the Department as at 30 September of each year. As a snapshot of vacancies on a single date they may not fairly reflect the trend for the number of vacancies over the year as a whole.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the hospitals that each of her Ministers and she has visited in the last three months where journalists have not been present; and for what percentage of the total number of their hospital visits journalists have not been present.

Ministerial visits to hospitals are not planned on the basis of whether journalists will or will not be present. The Department does not keep records of their attendance on such visits.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will require a report from the director of Berkshire county council social services department on the circumstances of the case of Mr. George Henry Dance.

We have received a report on this case from the Berkshire social services department.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what use is made of the annual reports of local authority registration and inspection units.

The purpose of inspection unit annual reports is set out in chapter 5 of "Caring for People—Community Care in the Next Decade and Beyond", copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to her answer of 26 April, Official Report, column 160, how many entries there were in the national list of cancelled registrations for each year since the Registered Homes Act 1984 came into force.

The number of names reported to the Department for inclusion in the national list of cancelled and refused registrations since 1985 when the Registered Homes Act 1984 came into operation is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will reduce the charge for prescription charges to the same amount in current prices as in May 1979.

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will give a full reply to the April letter from the chair of the Southwark community health council on the subject of her statement of 10 February as it affects Guy's hospital by 9 May.

Yes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that the new authorities established following the review of local government are of appropriate geographical size and population and have sufficient human and financial resources to work effectively with health authorities in the commissioning of community services, provide specialist services within a soundly based, multi-disciplinary framework and secure the cost-effective provision of a wide range of care services within a mixed economy of care.

I have been asked to reply.We will not implement changes to local government structure unless we are satisfied that effective provision can be made for all local authority functions, including personal social services. That provision may include shared arrangements in some cases. The resources available to new authorities will be decided in the same way as for existing authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will engage in discussions with representatives from Hong Kong, Japan and China for the purpose of eliminating the demand for rhinoceros horn and ivory; and if he will make a statement.

The United Kingdom works actively through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species—CITES—and bilateral contacts to persuade consumer states to stamp out the illegal trade in rhino horn and ivory. The CITES standing committee in March called for further progress in enforcement before its conference in November. The committee particularly commended Hong Kong for its recent efforts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many representations he has received concerning the slaughter of rhinoceros and elephants for rhinoceros horn and ivory; and if he will make a statement.

We receive a great many representations and share public concern about trade in endangered species. We are actively involved in international efforts, through the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species—CITES—to stamp out this activity.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations has made to the Security Council members about upgrading the United Nations involvement in Rwanda; and what was his response.

The United Nations Secretary-General has made no requests to the Security Council about upgrading United Nations involvement in Rwanda. He did present a series of options to the Security Council in his report of 20 April, on the basis of which it adopted Security Council resolution 912.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contact he has had with the Organisation of African Unity over Rwanda; and what material, financial and diplomatic support he is offering to the OAU for the peace process.

We have welcomed the involvement of the Organisation of African Unity and countries of the region in attempts to bring about a ceasefire and advance the peace process. The United Nations Secretary-General is in touch with OAU states about their possible involvement in further international operations in Rwanda. We await the Secretary-General's recommendations in the light of these discussions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to his answer of 26 April, Official Report, column 123, what steps he is taking to secure the recognition by Guatemala of Belize as a sovereign and independent state.

Guatemala recognised Belize as a sovereign and independent state in September 1991. This was reaffirmed by the new Guatemalan Government in August 1993. We will continue to encourage both countries to work for a full settlement of their territorial dispute.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the Government submitted to the United Nations Secretary-General a return from the United Kingdom to the United Nations register of conventional arms; and if he will place a copy of the return in the Library.

We submitted our return to the UN register covering the calendar year 1993 to the UN Secretary-General on 29 April. A copy has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will reconcile the figures of the estimated total cost of refurbishment of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office building in King Charles street, as given in his answers to the hon. Member for Truro (Mr. Taylor) of 12 April, Official Report, column 14, and to the hon. Member for South Hams on 25 April.

The figures given in my answer of 25 April were restricted to expenditure totalling £86 million by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Prior to 1988 the Property Services Agency—PSA—was responsible for major works. It would be possible to quantify PSA expenditure only at disproportionate cost. The balance of £14 million represents an assessment of works costs based on such evidence as is readily available. It covers essential maintenance works when the Home Office vacated part of the building in 1978 and refurbishment of one part of the former India Office between 1984 and 1986.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on progress in the Angola peace talks in Lusaka.

At the Lusaka talks, the Government of Angola and UNITA have reached agreement on military issues, the formation and composition of the police and the general principles of the electoral process. They are still discussing national reconciliation, including the issue of UNITA participation in government, upon which they have yet to agree.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will consider introducing a system enabling hon. Members to table written questions by E-mail.

Such a change would need to be considered by the appropriate Committees of the House.

To ask the Lord President of the Council what facilities the Office of Parliamentary Counsel offer to hon. Members representing Opposition parties in the drafting of amendments to public Bills which were not originally drafted for the Government.

The Office of Parliamentary Counsel does not offer facilities to hon. Members except at the request of Ministers.

To ask the Lord President of the Council when the Government will reply to the fourth report of the Select Committee on Procedure on the parliamentary scrutiny of deregulation orders, and publish their response.

Copies of the Government response are now available from the Vote Office.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer on how many occasions the G10 general agreement to borrow power has been used in the last 10 years; and what was the United Kingdom contribution on each occasion.

The general arrangements to borrow have not been used in the last 10 years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans his Department has (a) to utilise the Internet, (b) to make available on the Internet press releases and other departmental information which the public may wish to have access to and (c) to use the Internet as a means of increasing the openness of his Department.

The Treasury is planning to use the Internet for the exchange of electronic mail.Press releases issued by the Treasury are distributed by the Central Office of Information through its news distribution service—NDS. The NDS advises that:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received asking that pension and other institutional funds be required to make available to their investors details regarding the identity and work of companies involved in timber exploitation in tropical rainforests.

None. It is for institutions, their auditors and regulators to settle the contents of their annual reports and other information provided to investors, with due regard to legal requirements.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he intends to consult on the role of employers in self-assessment as announced in his November 1993 Budget.

The Inland Revenue is today publishing a consultative document entitled "Self-assessment: what it will mean for employers and employees." The document considers where changes may be necessary or desirable for self-assessment. It makes proposals for employers to give their employees information they will need to complete a self-assessment tax return after the new system has come in.In designing the proposals the Inland Revenue has aimed to keep any burden on employers to the minimum necessary to enable those employees who receive tax returns after 6 April 1997 to self-assess. The proposals have been discussed with employers' representatives and they are now being set out in the document for wider consultation and comment.Copies of the consultative document will be placed in the Library of the House of Commons.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 12 April, Official Report, column 46, if he will list the firms of consultants employed by his Department and the number of contracts they have undertaken.

[holding answer 19 April 1994]: Firms of consultants employed by my Department, including in privatisation contracts, for the period August 1991 to March 1994 are listed. The remaining consultancies were carried out by individuals, academics and academic institutes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will estimate the cost to public funds of the public inquiry shortly to be held into the proposed byelaws and objections concerning Lake Windermere in the Lake District national park;(2) what steps his Department is taking to safeguard the position of sport and recreation on Lake Windermere, without recourse to a public inquiry, following the proposal of byelaws seeking to introduce a 10 mph speed limit on Lake Windermere.

We consider that the terms of reference of the public inquiry which my right hon. and learned Friend has ordered to be held into the proposed byelaws should be sufficiently broad to encompass matters such as the practicality of alternative approaches to the management of Lake Windermere advocated by the Sports Council and others. I understand that the council and a number of other sports bodies are due to give oral evidence at the inquiry. It is not possible to estimate the cost of the inquiry at this stage.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many neighbourhood watch schemes there are in operation in (a) each country in Wales, (b) Wales as a whole and (c) England as a whole.

Information on the number of neighbourhood watch schemes is recorded at police level and so it is not possible to attribute schemes to individual Welsh counties. The number of schemes recorded by the police at the end of December 1993 for England and Wales is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements he will put in place to assist financially the families of juvenile offenders in secure training centres when visiting their children in the centres.

I intend to put in place a scheme which will enable a juvenile offender, on one occasion each week, to receive a visit from immediate family members, foster parents or guardians with the visitor able to claim reimbursement of the cost of that visit. I hope that this will encourage more frequent contacts between families and offenders, thus helping to maintain ties and promoting the involvement of families in offenders' training plans and in their progress in the centre prior to returning to the community.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many police constables were deployed in the Peterlee sub-division in each of the last five years;(2) how many women police officers were deployed in the Peterlee sub-division in each of the last five years.

The deployment of police resources within a force area is a matter for the chief constable. I understand from the chief constable that the Peterlee sub-division was merged with the Seaham sub-division on 1 January 1989 to form the Easington sub-division. The information provided relates to that part of the division made up of the Peterlee area.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) portable telephones, (b) pagers and electronic bleepers and (c) car telephones are currently used by his Department; what are the annual costs of operating this equipment; and to which personnel it is made available.

About 1,250 mobile telephones are in use in my Department, including executive agencies. About a dozen are installed in official vehicles. There are about 2,100 pagers. Mobile telephones and pagers are used mainly by staff in Her Majesty's Prison Service and Her Majesty's Immigration Service, who for operational reasons need to maintain immediate contact with their offices or other officials. Annual expenditure is estimated to be about £745,000, excluding capital costs which are variable.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 31 March, Official Report, column 943–45, what were the numbers in each local education authority of (a) asylum seekers and refugees, (b) children of asylum seekers and refugees, (c) unaccompanied children admitted as asylum seekers or refugees and (d) children admitted for family reunion reasons, admitted to the United Kingdom for the years (i) 1990–91, (ii) 1991–92, (iii) 1992–93 and (iv) 1993–94, derived from addresses notified to the Immigration and Nationality Department.

This information could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans his Department has (a) to utilise the Internet, (b) to make available on the Internet press releases and other departmental information which the public may wish to have access to and (c) to use the Internet as a means of increasing the openness of his Department.

Limited use of the Internet is made by research and development scientists in my Department for communicating with universities and other research organisations. My Department's press notices are passed electronically to the Central Office of Information, through which they are made available to users of the Internet. We have no further plans to use the Internet.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the carrying companies that have failed to pay expenses incurred in respect of persons detained, or liable to be detained, under the Immigration Acts, the amounts owing, and which amounts are still being pursued.

It is not normal practice to disclose information on the amounts owed in detention expenses by individual carrying companies, nor their payment record. The total amount currently owed to the Immigration Department is £2·7 million. Similar information about the amount due by carriers to police forces and the Prison Service for immigration detention costs is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for leave to remain in the United Kingdom have been granted in each of the last five years on the basis of a common-law relationship with a British citizen.

The available information is given in the table. Information on cases where the partner was a British citizen is not separately identifiable in these statistics.Acceptances for settlement' on the basis of a common-law relationship with a partner who is settled in the United Kingdom or who is a British citizen.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list in each financial year the amount spent on the development of the integrated national criminal intelligence systems computer project; which private sector firms participated in this project; and what amounts have been paid to them.

The figures, including the amounts paid to private sector firms, are given in the table. The private sector firms participating were Computer Sciences Co. Ltd., Grafton Database Associates Ltd., Hoskyns', PA Consultants, Software AG and World Quality Systems. Individual contract costs are commercially confidential, but the total amount paid to private sector firms was £1·008 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he now expects the crime statistics to be broadly the same as in May 1979.

I will not make predictions on long-term crime statistics. In the meantime, the Government will continue to take vigorous action to tackle crime and protect the public.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what new appointments have been made to the Police Complaints Authority.

Ann Kelly, who served on the British Railways Board up to 1992 with responsibility for promoting equal opportunities, has accepted my invitation to serve as a member of the Police Complaints Authority. She took up her appointment on 18 April.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what representations he has received regarding the six bedspace rule in respect of fire precautions legislation.

My Department has received a number of representations on this subject, particularly from tourist accommodation operators with more than six bedspaces. The effect of fire precautions legislation and its enforcement featured strongly in responses to my Department's inquiry into regulatory burdens on the tourism industry. These matters are currently being considered both by the Home Office and by the interdepartmental fire safety scrutiny team, announced by my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade —to whom I have made the tourism industry's concerns known—on 17 January.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment his Department has made of the effect of local government reorganisation on the English regional tourist board structure.

Each of the regional tourist boards—RTBs —is an independent organisation, and their boundaries will not be directly affected by the outcome of the local government review. Local authorities have always been active supporters of the work of the RTBs, and I am sure the RTBs will be keen to co-operate with any new authorities which emerge from the review.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what are the objectives of the Government's tourism policy.

The objectives of the Government's tourism policy are, as set out in my Department's annual report, to create the conditions which will encourage inward and domestic tourism so that the industry can make its full contribution to the economy and increase opportunities for access to our culture and heritage.In pursuit of this overall aim my Department seeks to:

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he expects the review of the crown classification system in respect of tourism in England to be completed.

The consultants commissioned by the English tourist board to review the crown classification scheme are due to report to the board at the end of May. My Department will then discuss with the English tourist board its proposals for taking forward the recommendations of the report.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the future of the United Kingdom tourism survey.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment he has made of the impact on non-EC tourist traffic and expenditure in the United Kingdom as a result of implementing EC Commission proposal Com (94) 58 to amend directive 77/388/EEC.

The proposed amendment to directive 77/388/EEC imposes a minimum threshold of 175 ecus before non-EU visitors can claim a VAT refund. There is some concern within the retail sector that this would have an adverse effect on tourist expenditure. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer is well aware of these concerns and the Government have made clear their objections to this proposal.

I have asked the English tourist board to review its research activities, including the United Kingdom tourism survey. The aim of this review is to assess whether information is being provided for the industry and for Government in a form that meets their needs. This review is due to be completed in the near future.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment he has made of the effect of local government reorganisation on the public library service; and what account he has taken of the views of the chairman of Library and Information Services, Council for England.

In his annual report to Parliament on library matters, published last month in conjunction with that of the Library and Information Services Council, my right hon. Friend responded to the council's concern about the likely effect of local government reorganisation upon existing county library services in the following terms:

"I am well aware of the deep feelings which have been aroused by proposals for change in the structure of local government and have, myself, taken every opportunity to register within Government the importance of ensuring effective future arrangements for the delivery of the public library service, whatever the final outcome of the re-organisation".

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much of his Department's estimated outturn expenditure on administration for the year 1994–95 will be spent on (a) premises, (b) publicity and (c) salaries.

Estimated expenditure in the three areas is:

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage (1) how much of the cost for 1994–95 of the Office of the National Lottery will be spent on (a) salaries, (b) publicity and (c) administration;(2) how many staff are at present employed at the Office of the National Lottery; and how many are likely to be employed once the lottery has begun its operation;(3) what services of the Office of the National Lottery have been contracted out; to whom and for what purpose.

These are matters for the Director General of the Office of the National Lottery. I shall ask him to write to the hon. Member and place copies of his reply in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what plans his Department has (a) to utilise the Internet, (b) to make available on the Internet press releases and other departmental information which the public may wish to have access to and (c) to use the Internet as a means of increasing the openness of his Department.

My Department's press releases, issued electronically through the Central Office of Information, are accessible to users of the Internet via Data-Star Dialog (Europe) or Mead/Lexis/Nexis. They are also available to subscribers to FT Profile, Reuters Textline and to POLIS.My Department's press releases are also made available through the COI's fax retrieval service, details of which can be provided by its news distribution service.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will make a statement on the use of private detective agencies and security companies by his Department.

Since formation in April 1992, my Department and its agencies have not employed any private detective agencies.Private security firms have been employed and I refer to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Walsall, South (Mr. George) on 21 April 1994,

To ask the Secretry of State for National Heritage what plans he has for the completion of the British library building at St. Pancras.

Following a competitive tendering exercise, I have agreed to place a contract for the cladding and fitting-out of the final phase of construction with a joint venture consortium comprising Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd. and Haden Young Ltd.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will estimate the cost of employing consultants in connection with privatisation programmes in which his Department has been engaged.

[holding answer 4 May 1994]: Nil.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade on how many occasions advice from the single market compliance unit has led to a United Kingdom company successfully challenging a contract originally awarded to a company based in another member state of the European Union.

The single market compliance unit and other parts of Government have provided guidance to many companies on EC public purchasing procedures. Companies do not usually report back to us unless they face subsequent difficulty. We therefore do not know to what extent Government advice has enabled United Kingdom firms successfully to challenge public sector contracts originally awarded to companies from other member states.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many (a) portable telephones, (b) pagers and electronic bleepers and (c) car telephones are currently used by his Department; what are the annual costs of operating this equipment; and to which personnel it is made available.

Records are no longer kept centrally of all uses of mobile telephones, pagers and electronic bleepers. However it is estimated that excluding "next steps" agencies there are some 700 mobile telephones and 480 pagers/bleepers in use in my Department at costs of around £280,000 and £65,000 per annum respectively.This equipment is in use where the costs can be shown to be justified by improvements in efficiency and effectiveness. This covers a wide range of personnel.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will pay a visit to the Easington constituency; and when was the last time he was in that area.

I have no plans at present to visit the hon. Gentleman's constituency. My last visit to Durham was on 18 September 1992 when I opened the new joint office of the Northern chambers of commerce and I attended the annual dinners of the Teeside and Tyne and Wear chambers in April and October of last year.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the current capacity of the electricity interconnector with France; what percentage of this capacity is utilised; and what proposals there are for constructing additional capacity to transmit electricity between Britain and continental Europe.

The interconnector with France has a capacity of 2,000 MW. Since it was commissioned in 1986 it has generally been fully utilised. Proposals to construct additional capacity between Britain and continental Europe are a matter for the industry.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 14 April, Official Report, columns 251–53, on research establishments, when he expects to make a further announcement on his plans for contracting out.

I will make further announcements as and when I am ready to do so.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total value of British exports at constant prices in each of the last five years; and what proportion consisted exports of military equipment.

The value of United Kingdom exports, in constant 1990 prices, is given in the table. Information on exports of military equipment is not available in constant prices. The proportion of total visible exports accounted for by military equipment, in current prices, is given in the table.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list each current grant, incentive, advice, consultancy, award or other scheme involving either direct or indirect expenditure his Department sponsors together with the date of commencement, and the authority for each such scheme.

The supply estimates for 1994–95 and the DTI's annual report for 1994—both published in March —copies of which are available in the Library of the House, describe in some detail the Department's current schemes involving programme expenditure. The information requested regarding dates of commencement and authority for individual schemes could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the controls or licence requirements in respect of the export of arms and ammunition to the counties of central and south America; and how many licences were (a) issued and (b) applied for and rejected for such countries in the last three years.

Exports of arms and ammunition to all destinations are controlled under the relevant Export of Goods (Control) Order. Arms and ammunition as defined in the International Munitions List are prefixed "ML" in the orders. Details of the numbers of licences in respect of destinations in south and central America in the last three complete calendar years are as follows.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to be able to publish the consultative document on opening up the domestic gas market; and if he will make a statement.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will publish the consultation document on the future of the United Kingdom gas market.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the consultation paper on regulation of the competitive gas market will be published.

The Director General of Gas Supply and I have today published our joint consultative document, "Competition and Choice in the Gas Market". This outlines an approach to bringing the benefits of competition to the domestic gas supply market, and describes the regulatory arrangements which could be put in place. This is a consultation document, and no decisions have been taken.Comments are requested on certain issues by the end of June, and on the remainder by the end of July. Copies of the document have been placed in the Library of the House. Further copies are available from the Library at the Office of Gas Supply.The proposals envisage the separation of the business of gas supply, which is increasingly subject to competition, from gas transportation, which will continue to be substantially a monopoly.The proposed new licensing framework will allow independent suppliers, as well as the British Gas supply business, to have their gas transported through the pipeline system and supply customers. Regulation on the supply business will gradually be relaxed as the benefits of competition flow, although a number of important conditions, such as debt and disconnection, will be retained indefinitely.Because of the complexity of the issues and the need to feed back experience as it is gained, the introduction of competition will be phased in carefully. For the first two years, the extent of competition will be limited to 5 per cent. and 10 per cent. of the volume of gas sold.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consideration he has given of the impact on low-income gas consumers of a 2 per cent. premium on gas bills to achieve the Government's energy conservation targets.

The Government are committed to achieving the Rio target and look to energy efficiency programmes devised by the Energy Saving Trust to make a sizeable contribution to meeting the target. Consideration is being given to the means of financing these programmes, including their costs to gas consumers. No decisions have been taken.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will set out his powers in respect of cancelling or refusing licences if an oil company takes over another.

[holding answer 6 May 1994]: If an oil company takes over another which has a petroleum licence, this would constitute a change of control of that licensee. A change of control of a licensee might, in certain circumstances, trigger the Secretary of State's power to revoke the licence. If an oil company takes over another company which has applied for a licence, such an application would be treated on its merits. Under the relevant legislation the Secretary of State has power to grant licences to such persons as he thinks fit.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what consultation has taken place with Her Majesty's Government with regard to the continuation of licences when an oil company takes over another.

Such consultations take place from time to time in relation to developments in the market. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to him today, which sets out the Secretary of State's powers in the event of a change of control of a licensee.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 22 April, Official Report, column 708, if he will now announce a new redundancy scheme for mineworkers; and if he will make a statement.

The operation of British Coal's redundancy arrangements is a matter for the corporation. I understand it is currently discussing with the unions the redundancy arrangements for industrial employees to apply after 30 April.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will introduce a statutory requirement to ensure that the new coal authority must ensure appropriate environmental safeguards and levels of public accountability for the privatised coal industry; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 6 May 1994]: It will be for the successor companies to discharge their obligations to protect the environment, and for the relevant regulators to enforce these obligations.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the balance of trade in manufacturing goods in May 1979; and what it is currently.

Information on the balance of trade in manufacturing is no longer readily available on a monthly basis for 1979. In the second quarter of 1979, the United Kingdom had a trade surplus in manufactures worth £1·1 billion. In the last three months to January 1994, the United Kingdom had a deficit of £2·5 billion.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many civil servants in his Department and the Department of Energy applied in each year since 1986 through the business appointments system to take up an outside appointment (a) as an independent consultant, (b) in a firm of consultants and (c) in other employment; how many were referred to the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments; and how many were granted.

[holding answer 3 May 1994]: The table sets out the information requested. Under the business appointment rules Departments may not withhold approval but they may impose conditions on applicants. They may, for example, impose waiting periods of up to two years before outside employment is taken up.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what have been the costs incurred by his office in (a) providing legal advice to witnesses appearing before the Scott inquiry, (b) drawing up evidence to be submitted to the Scott inquiry, (c) officials and legal advisers attending the Scott inquiry and (d) any other related costs.

[holding answer 6 May 1994]: The cost to the DTI of providing legal advice to witnesses giving evidence to Lord Justice Scott's inquiry is currently £165,976. Officials and Ministers, whether serving or former, have provided evidence to the inquiry on a personal basis and have not been supervised by the Department. It is not possible, therefore, to estimate the time spent or cost incurred in the provision of such evidence. Serving officials are required to submit evidence and attend the inquiry as invited by Lord Justice Scott as part of their official duties.The direct central cost of the provision of evidence and information from the DTI to the inquiry is estimated to be £311,219, which represents the cost of the inquiry liaison unit within the DTI and the costs of the attendant registry. The direct costs of the Scott inquiry to date, falling to my department, have been £1,028,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the moneys received by local authorities in the county of Clwyd from the regional fund of the EU since its inception.

The total European regional development fund grant aid received by local authorities in Clwyd since 1975 is £48,424,961.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the regional challenge basis for ERDF funding allocation in England being used as a suitable basis for allocating funds in Wales; and what plans he has to top-slice objective 5b funds in Wales.

I have decided that a proportion of the ERDF allocations in both the objective 2 and 5b areas of Wales will be used to fund projects selected through regional challenge competitions, which I believe will enhance the quality and value for money of grant allocations by stimulating the submission of imaginative regeneration and development proposals from local partnerships.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what plans he has to establish a meat hygiene service office in Wales; and if he will make a statement.

Detailed arrangements for the meat hygiene service's organisation are still under consideration.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the numbers of (a) part-time and (b) full-time employee workers on Welsh farms for each of the past five years; and if he will make a statement.

The information is given in the following table. The number of seasonal and casual workers is not recorded as either part-time or full-time and is shown separately.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will publish for each county and for Wales as a whole how many students receiving further education receive repayments from the further education access fund; and if he will make a statement.

Access funds are allocated to individual further and higher education institutions. Returns from institutions show that the number of students on further education courses who received payments from the access funds in 1992–93 were:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what is the latest total paid to farmers in (a) arable aid scheme set-aside payments and (b) total arable area scheme payments in Wales following the 1993–94 harvest.

Payments made under (a) arable aid scheme set aside payments amount to £617,480 and (b) arable area total payments of £5,526,385, in the 1992–93 harvest year.No payments have yet been made in respect of the 1993–94 harvest year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many farms in Wales had arable aid scheme set-aside areas greater than (a) 100 hectares and (b) 50 hectares in the last available year.

No farms in Wales had arable aid scheme set-aside areas greater than 50 hectares.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many farmers in Wales received arable area payments greater than (a) £100,000, (b) £250,000, (c) £500,000 and (d) £1,000,000 in the last available year.