To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action is being taken to refund all those wrongly charged for entry clearance where it has been established by EC law that this should have been done free of charge.

I refer the hon. Member to my reply on 17 October 1994, Official Report, column 48.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what representations he has received from the Chief Constable of the South Wales police in relation to the procedure for guarding of prisoners at Cardiff magistrates court by (a) police officers and (b) private security officers; and if he will make a statement.

None.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department when the Lord Chancellor's advisory committee on legal education and conduct intends to publish its third annual report.

The Lord Chancellor's advisory committee on legal education and conduct has today published its third annual report, and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will publish figures for the performance of the London ambulance service in each month from July 1992 to September 1994, showing the percentage of calls responded to within 14 minutes and the target specified in the patients charter.

The percentage of 999 calls which received a response within 14 minutes of the call being answered is shown in the table:

Month	Per cent. Response within 14 minutes
1992
July	No reliable figures available
August
September
October
November
December	59
1993
January	64
February	65
March	63
April	68
May	67
June	60
July	62
August	65
September	64
October	58
November	57
December	57
1994
January	65
February	63
March	63
April	65
May	66
June	62
July	62
August	66
September	68

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people in each standard age group died from asthma attacks in each of the past five years for which figures are available.

The information requested is available in the Library—in the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys series DH2 under ^*ICD 493.

^* International Classification of Diseases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the mortality rates for asthma for each year since 1972 among (a) the whole population and (b) under 14-year-olds.

The readily available information is shown in the table.

Death rates from asthma (ICD 493), England and Wales, 1972–1992

Deaths per 100,000 population
	All ages	under 15
1972	2·57	0·44
1973	2·44	0·46
1974	2·20	0·36
1975	2·39	0·32
1976	2·11	0·35
1977	2·19	0·48

Deaths per 100,000 population
	All ages	under 15
1978	2·32	0·40
1979	2·98	0·35
1980	2·98	0·39
1981	3·23	0·48
1982	3·18	0·44
1983	3·31	0·43
1984	3·54	0·40
1985	3·94	0·34
1986	3·97	0·27
1987	3·77	0·41
1988	3·97	0·40
1989	3·86	0·26
1990	3·65	0·39
1991	3·69	0·33
1992	3·49	0·20

^*International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many responses he has received following his consultative document on the future of the Post Office; and if he will publish the results of the consultation.

:At the end of the consultation period we had received some 13,400 responses to the Green Paper, "The Future of Postal Services". We will make public the results of the consultation at the appropriate point.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to make an announcement on the future of the nuclear industry following the nuclear review.

The public consultation period for the review ended on 30 September. Many complex issues have to be considered and an announcement will be made once that consideration is completed.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many companies have made a bid for British Coal's coal interests; how many have bid for each regional package; and if he will name these companies.

There were 18 bidders for the five regional coal companies and the care and maintenance collieries. Details of the bids and bidders are commercially confidential but we have announced the names of the preferred bidders.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to announce the preferred buyers for each of British Coal's regional packages; and if he will make a statement.

The preferred bidders for the five regional coal companies and certain of the care and maintenance collieries were announced on Wednesday 14 October. They are:

RJB Mining plc for Central North, Central South and North East Regional Coal Companies and Thorne and Ellington Care and Maintenance Collieries;

Celtic Energy Limited for South Wales;

Mining (Scotland) Limited for Scotland;

Coal Investments plc for Annesley Bentinck Colliery; and

Tower Employee Buyout Team for Tower Colliery

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been undertaken for the illegal docking of dogs' tails; and how many were successful.

Prosecutions for the illegal docking of dogs' tails will be recorded either under Statutory Instrument 1991 No. 1412, The Veterinary Surgeons 1966 (Schedule 3 amendment) Order 1991, or the Protection of Animals Act 1911.Information held centrally shows no record of prosecutions under the above-mentioned statutory instrument.However, it should be noted that the statistics of court proceedings are based on returns made by the police to the Home Office and although these include offences where there has been no police involvement, such as those prosecutions instigated by Government Departments and private organisations—in this case possibly the RSPCA—and individuals, the reporting of these types of offence is known to be incomplete.The court proceedings data regarding offences committed under the Protection of Animals Act 1911 does not identify the type of cruelty or species involved.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what legislation currently governs the welfare of animals at animal sanctuaries.

The welfare of animals in sanctuaries is governed by the general animal welfare provisions of the Protection of Animals Act 1911.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many crimes were recorded by each police force in England and Wales within each category of crime in the year ended June;(2) how many incidents of theft or unauthorised taking of a motor vehicle and of theft from a motor vehicle were recorded by each police force in England and Wales in the year ended June;(3) how many of the burglaries recorded by each police force in England and Wales in the year ended June were in a dwelling; and how many were in another building.

The information requested is contained in the following tables:

Notifiable offences recorded by the police by police force area and offence group–12 months to June 1994
	Number of offences
England and Wales Police force area	All offences	Violence against the person	Sexual offences	Robbery	Burglary	Theft and handling stolen goods	Fraud and forgery	Criminal damage	Other
Avon and Somerset	169,690	6,314	1,143	1,923	37,635	95,174	4,590	22,039	872
Bedfordshire	55,611	1,888	413	558	14,386	28,780	2,083	7,185	318
Cambridgeshire	61,312	3,046	432	275	13,610	34,502	1,600	7,395	452
Cheshire	77,427	3,122	554	314	20,506	36,461	2,776	12,408	1,286
Cleveland	79,385	2,250	250	414	18,432	41,593	1,377	14,747	322
Cumbria	42,521	1,985	239	84	9,901	20,938	1,157	7,837	380
Derbyshire	87,924	3,948	456	422	25,299	39,319	1,711	16,020	749
Devon and Cornwall	114,124	4,328	1,006	417	32,053	57,148	3,687	14,129	1,356
Dorset	53,153	1,829	404	146	8,900	30,474	3,397	7,111	892
Durham	66,032	2,557	494	149	12,984	34,514	2,619	12,021	694
Essex	108,779	4,443	636	402	25,999	56,052	2,828	17,530	889
Gloucestershire	63,117	2,044	872	313	17,277	32,988	2,730	6,358	535
Greater Manchester	345,138	9,939	1,277	5,667	91,621	161,946	9,415	62,808	2,465
Hampshire	142,470	5,559	1,343	552	30,882	75,461	4,544	22,670	1,459
Hertfordshier	54,268	1,939	308	238	12,592	28,118	1,428	9,276	369
Humberside	139,006	4,944	733	559	46,029	63,617	2,965	19,674	485
Kent	157,083	6,733	1,038	613	28,626	87,235	3,986	27,116	1,736
Lancashire	128,434	3,190	464	502	27,218	65,709	3,347	26,969	1,035
Leicestershire	98,949	4,053	567	950	25,327	49,670	3,455	14,420	507
Lincolnshire	49,951	2,274	348	150	12,294	23,934	1,228	9,056	667
City of London	5,069	170	19	40	670	3,436	446	209	79
Merseyside	138,663	7,434	778	2,269	32,797	65,635	4,380	23,681	1,689
Metropolitan Police District	883,741	44,257	7,181	25,152	162,337	427,698	33,206	175,450	8,460
Norfolk	59,754	2,155	390	181	15,979	30,941	1,611	7,932	565
Northamptonshire	58,892	2,389	341	333	17,183	27,895	1,729	8,582	440
Northumbria	210,444	6,446	721	1,260	60,999	85,444	2,932	51,626	1,016
North Yorkshire	59,723	2,137	270	168	16,451	30,385	1,203	8,593	516
Nottinghamshire	156,362	7,584	1,147	1,166	38,314	75,010	4,152	28,193	796
South Yorkshire	156,541	4,856	654	996	52,644	69,756	2,558	23,880	1,197
Staffordshire	96,005	5,952	573	414	28,953	42,286	2,242	15,157	428
Suffolk	41,574	2,104	386	113	8,400	21,494	1,695	6,659	723
Surrey	49,478	2,514	419	165	11,271	25,695	2,142	6,758	514
Sussex	106,262	3,270	742	529	24,231	54,280	2,984	18,971	1,255
Thames Valley	191,748	5,118	839	975	39,273	106,526	6,950	30,491	1,576
Warwickshire	43,970	1,506	319	133	11,826	22,349	1,208	6,303	326
West Mercia	82,848	3,478	455	274	16,985	45,413	1,527	14,158	558
West Midlands	323,267	11,022	1,444	6,375	95,272	146,175	8,775	52,297	1,907
West Yorkshire	297,108	9,419	1,602	2,918	90,993	138,426	5,870	45,333	2,547
Wiltshire	39,159	2,657	384	149	8,641	19,500	1,214	6,123	491
Dyfed-Powys	22,817	2,115	270	41	3,924	10,491	704	4,831	441
Gwent	40,873	2,507	299	99	7,227	21,716	1,192	7,258	575
North Wales	44,687	2,887	576	115	10,567	21,293	1,049	7,750	450
South Wales	162,020	5,990	556	467	37,998	77,405	4,045	34,333	1,226
England and Wales	5,365,379	214,352	33,342	58,980	1,304,506	2,632,882	154,737	921,337	45,243

Notifiable offences of vehicle crime recorded by the police by police force area–12 months to June 1994
	Number ofoffences
England and Wales Police force area	Theft of a vehicle	Theft from a vehicle
Avon and Somerset	23,144	35,207
Bedfordshire	8,147	10,911
Cambridgeshire	6,276	10,274
Cheshire	8,320	12,209
Cleveland	12,412	9,883
Cumbria	2,887	7,949
Derbyshire	8,855	15,247
Devon and Cornwall	7,507	22,049
Dorset	3,500	9,636
Durham	8,720	9,448
Essex	9,268	18,628
Gloucestershire	4,948	14,167

Notifiable offences of vehicle crime recorded by the police by police force area–12 months to June 1994
	Number of offences
England and Wales Police force area	Theft of a vehicle	Theft from a vehicle
Greater Manchester	52,217	50,999
Hampshire	9,341	27,827
Hertfordshire	5,462	12,411
Humberside	15,477	19,979
Kent	17,107	26,125
Lancashire	12,115	21,820
Leicestershire	11,205	17,467
Lincolnshire	3,303	6,075
City of London	120	533
Merseyside	15,260	17,007
Metropolitan Police District	72,526	138,747
Norfolk	3,932	11,559

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many crimes were recorded in each borough by the Metropolitan police within each category of crime in the year ended June.

The information requested has been supplied by the Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis and is contained in the following table:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 6 July, Official Report, column 203, what action his Department will be taking to reduce (a) the demand for drugs and (b) the supply of drugs in prison.

[holding answer 20 July 1994]: 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 (1) what was the total sum of money paid out to victims of the Brighton bombing under the criminal injury compensation scheme; and how many individuals received payments;(2) what estimate he has made of the sum which would have been paid to victims of the Brighton bombing under the proposed tariff scheme for criminal injuries compensation.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board advises that 34 claims were made in respect of the Brighton bombing in 1984. Further, more detailed, information about those claims—for example how many resulted in a monetary award and the size of any such awards—is not readily available. No estimate can therefore be made of the sums which might have been payable under the tariff scheme in comparable circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with Sir John Woodcock's report into the incident at Whitemoor prison; and when he expects to publish the results.

I will publish Sir John Woodcock's report as soon as possible.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers have been deployed at Whitemoor prison from 9 September to the latest date; and from which forces they came.

Since 9 September, between 36 and 76 police officers from Cambridgeshire constabulary and the Metropolitan police have been deployed at Whitemoor prison.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) prosecutions were undertaken and (b) convictions gained in respect of (a) appendix 1, (b) appendix 2 and (c) appendix 3 of CITES in each year since 1990.

Information held centrally by the Department shows two prosecutions and two convictions in 1990 under sections 3(1) and 3(8) of the Statutory Instrument, "Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement) Regulations". Information for 1991 to 1993—which is provisional—shows a nil return.However, it should be noted that the statistics of court proceedings are based on returns made by the police to the Home Office and although these include offences where there has been no police involvement, such as those prosecutions instigated by Government Departments—in this case probably Custom and Excise—and private organisations and individuals, the reporting of these types of offence is known to be incomplete.Proceedings instigated with reference to the Conference on International Trade in Endangered Species but dealt with under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and any other statute pertaining to endangered species cannot be separately identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the source of funds for each as (a) funds within the civil defence vote of his Department, (b) funds from other Departments, or non-civil defence funds from his Department and (c) other funds not derived from central Government.

Funds for civil defence are voted by Parliament in the annual Appropriation Act. In the same way, Parliament votes funds to other Departments and to the Home Office for non-civil defence purposes.Information on other funds not derived from central Government that may be used for civil defence purposes is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many instances there were in (a) 1993 and (b) 1994 where the decision of a chief immigration officer to detain an asylum seeker was overturned by (i) the first seven-day review, (ii) the second seven-day review, (iii) the third seven-day review, (iv) the first monthly review, (v) the second monthly review, (vi) the third monthly review, (vii) the fourth monthly review and (viii) the sixth monthly review;(2) how many instances there were

The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make it his policy to allow applicants for asylum to contest the initial decision of a chief immigration officer to detail them before an independent appellate authority before their full application for asylum is heard.

As it stands the law provides, for any detainee who has an appeal outstanding or who has been detailed for more than seven days for further examination having sought entry to the United Kingdom, an opportunity to apply to the independent appellate authorities for bail. The Government have no plans to change these provisions, which apply to asylum seeks as to others.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many birds of prey were stolen in each region in each month since September 1993.

The information requested is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what resources were allocated, by region, to police wildlife liaison officers in each year since 1987; and if he will make a statement on Government support for their role.

This information is not collected centrally. The deployment of police officers and other resources to wildlife liaison work is a matter for chief officers.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what common position with any other member of the European Union regarding the forthcoming executive committee meeting of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees he has agreed, in accordance with the agenda of the Germany Presidency of the European Union item 2(d).

None, but at the meeting of the UNHCR executive committee from 3 to 7 October the German presidency made a statement on behalf of the European Union which had been agreed with the member states. I am placing a copy in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in respect of which states his Department has encountered difficulties in obtaining, for aliens to be deported, travel documents from foreign missions of their states.

Difficulty in obtaining a travel document for a deportee is experienced in only a small proportion of cases, and I do not think it would be helpful to associate it with specific countries. Where delays do occur they are generally due to the embassy's or high commission's need to verify the identity and nationality of the person concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how often his officials attend meetings of the centre for information and exchange on asylum referred to in the agenda of the German Presidency of the European Union regarding title VI of the European Union treaty.

The Home Office is represented at all CIREA meetings. There have been two so far this year, and a further two are planned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what representations he has had with respect to the possibilities of trust status for the Cardiff University dental hospital; and if he will make a statement.

The Welsh Office has received two representations in respect of the South Glamorgan dental hospital's application for NHS trust status. Public consultation commenced on 5 September and ends on 4 December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the comparison techniques used in the determining of the bids for the provision of open heart operations at Morriston hospital cardiac surgery and cardiology service for West Wales.

The tenders were assessed by an evaluation team against a set of non-financial criteria produced by the project board advised by independent experts. A separate financial evaluation was performed by independent management consultants.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairmen of Welsh health purchasing authorities in relation to the need for integrated TB control programmes; and what arrangements he has made to ensure programmes achieve high immunisation uptakes and screening rates in areas of substantial immigration from high TB prevalence areas of the world.

I have seen no need to consult with chairmen of Welsh health purchasing authorities on this matter. All health authorities in Wales are issued with regular guidance on vaccination and immunisation programmes, including TB. Current advice recommends that the BCG vaccine is offered to all school children between the ages of 10 and 13; to new immigrants from countries with a high prevalence of the disease and to their newly born children; and to certain other high-risk groups. Health authorities have been reminded recently to ensure that their arrangements to protect against TB are adequate.The Government have set up a task force to consider what improvements to the TB control strategy are necessary, including the need for screening of immigrants and refugees.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Countryside Council for Wales and with the National Museum of Wales in relation to the proposed Welsh national botanical garden; if he will give the (a) capital cost and (b) annual maintenance cost of the project; what representations he has had in relation to responsibility for its administration; and if he will make a statement.

Consultants have been commissioned to consider whether there is a need for a national botanic garden for Wales and if so, to consider the costs and possible locations. They have consulted the Countryside Council for Wales and the National Museum of Wales. Details of costs will not be known until the consultants' report is received towards the end of the year. A number of representations have been received suggesting a variety of locations around Wales.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on how many occasions in the past 12 months the filing and recall system of his Department has failed; what proposals he has for improvements in the computerised filing system; and what proposals he has for market testing the registry department.

My Department is developing a new computerised filing system which so far covers only a small part of our operation. During this process, we are maintaining a manual back-up system which should prevent teething troubles from causing the Department's file recording system to fail.The records management service in Cardiff—formerly the registry department—has recently been market tested and the contract has been awarded to the in-house bid team.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will give the waiting list figures and average waiting times for infertility treatment in each Welsh health authority area.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) what date he received the draft corporate plan of the Welsh Development Agency; what consultations he has carried out in respect of it; when he expects to receive the final version of the corporate plan; and if he will make a statement;(2) what consultations he has held with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency concerning the arrangements for publication of the agency's corporate plan.

I expect to receive the agency's corporate plan soon. My officials have been in discussion with the agency on possible options and priorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency concerning the future responsibilities of the agency in (a) factory development, (b) marketing, (c) urban regeneration, (d) derelict land clearance and (e) investment banking and venture capital; and if he will make a statement.

I meet the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency regularly to discuss a range of issues.My letter to the chairman of 8 March 1994 set out the ways in which I expect the agency to contribute to the economic development of Wales. A copy of that letter was placed in the Library of the House at the time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what consultations he has had with the Audit Commission in relation to the terms of reference of the inquiry conducted by Grant Thornton into the Welsh Development Agency joint venture with Cynon Valley borough council and the land deal with Tesco plc.

None. The arrangements for the inquiry are a matter for the agency.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales on what date he received notification from the chairman of the Welsh Development Agency concerning his impending directorship of Development Securities Ltd.; on what date consent was given; and if he will make a statement.

The chairman notified me that he intended to take up a directorship of Development Securities plc on 25 March 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales (1) if he will make a statement on the advice given to (a) schools proposing to switch to grant-maintained status and (b) their local education authorities in relation to the clearing of current year deficit in the final year under local authority administration;(2) when he expects to refund to South Glamorgan county council the run-off deficit of Mary Immaculate high school, as at the date of its transfer to grant-maintained status on 31 March.

The deficit which had been accumulated by Mary Immaculate high school over a period of years and while it was under the control of South Glamorgan local education authority will be paid off in its first year as a grant-maintained school without additional funding from the Welsh Office.It has been made clear that, under the Education (Grant-Maintained Schools) (Finance) (Wales)

Recorded imports of live animals into the United Kingdom since 1985
	Adult cattle	Calves	Sheep & lambs	Pigs	Other livestock	Poultry (,000)
1985	218,696	2,625	90,808	60,156	6,739	2,809·5
1986	231,867	429	64,591	64,844	8,150	4,446·8
1987	151,473	109	88,168	59,710	12,139	3,778·5
1988	178,051	510	67,677	45,445	11,921	2,526·2
1989	122,947	653	102,923	56,982	11,403	2,459·8
1990	124,337	355	119,217	52,581	10,584	3,224·6
1991	89,488	—	98,032	76·286	8,280	3,439·6

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department has agreed to sell the Queen Elizabeth hospital to Greenwich healthcare trust for NHS use.

Negotiations with the Greenwich healthcare trust have been progressing well although a number of stages remain to be completed before any contract could be signed. In the meantime, however, we have received an expression of interest from a private consortium. Should this result in a formal offer, we would consider it.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will indicate which departmental publications are currently available (a) in Braille, (b) in large print and (c) on tape; and if he will indicate what efforts have been made by his Department to inform visually impaired people about the availability of publications in alternative formats to normal print.

MAFF has collaborated with the Royal National Institute for the Blind to produce publications in alternative formats on a range of subjects. There are two MAFF publications, from the "Foodsense" series, available through the RNIB's customer services: the booklet "New Microwave Labels" is available in Braille or on audio; and the booklet "Healthy Eating" is available both in Braille and large print formats, as well as on audio tape. A third publication "Health Eating for Older People" is available in large print format via the "Foodsense" public ordering telephone line.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many (a) adult cattle, (b) calves, (c) sheep/lambs, (d) pigs and (e) other livestock were imported into Great Britain in each year since 1985.

Data for Great Britain in the form requested are not available except at disproportionate cost. Figures for recorded imports into the United Kingdom as a whole are given in the table.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many licensed (a) red meat and (b) poultry abattoirs there were in each of the last five years.

Until 1993, abattoirs in Great Britain were not licensed centrally by Agriculture Departments. The following figures for abattoirs licensed by local authorities are derived from records of state veterinary service visits and are therefore approximate.The number of licensed abattoirs in England and Wales in each of the last five years was:

red meat	poultry meat
1989–780	1989–108
1990–700	1990–102
1991–640	1991–98
1992–595	1992–98
1993–473	1993–102

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on the use of meat tenderising enzymes administered to animals pre-slaughter.

The Fresh Meat (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1992 currently prohibit the sale for human consumption of fresh meat from animals to which tenderisers have been administered.The EC Scientific Veterinary Committee has been asked to consider the question of administration of tenderising enzymes to cattle after stunning and before slaughter. It is not clear when the committee is likely to report.

To ask the Prime Minister what has been the total cost, including staff time and legal fees, of representing each Government Department in cases at industrial tribunals in each of the past five years.

Name	Minister (s) served	Date of Appointment	Previous Employer
K Adams	Secretary of State for the Environment	28 May 1993	Rt. Hon. John Gummer
P Barnes	Secretary of State for Social Security	28 May 1993	Boston Consulting Group
C Blunt	Secretary of State for Defence	15 February 1993	PI Political Consultants
Miss. A Broom	Secretary of State for Employment	21 July 1994	Freelance Political Consultant

The information requested is not held centrally and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will place in the Library (a) a list of official visits he has made since 21 July, (b) copies of speeches he made on each visit, (c) a list of interviews given to the media over the same period and (d) a copy of his speech to the Conservative and Unionist conference in Bournemouth on 14 October.

(a) I have made a number of official visits throughout the country since 21 July this year, delivering several speeches on a wide range of subjects. Since that date I have also made three overseas visits as follows:

Date	Destination
1–2 August	Poland and Lithuania
7–8 September	The Hague and Berlin
18–22 September	Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and South Africa

(b) Copies of the speeches made on each occasion have been placed in the Library, along with (c) a list of interviews given to the media since 21 July.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will publish a current list of special advisers attached to Ministers stating the Minister they work for, the date of their appointment, the name of their previous employer before their initial appointment as a special adviser attached to a Minister, and the organisation from which they are seconded.

Currently there are 32 special advisers attached to Ministers. None is on secondment from an outside organisation. The names of the advisers, the Ministers they work for, the dates of their current appointments and the names of their previous employers before their initial appointments and the names of their previous employers before their initial appointments as special advisers are as follows: