To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals there are to change the 1994–95 cash limit for Her Majesty's Stationery Office.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary Supplementary Estimate, the cash limit for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, class XVIII, vote 4, will be increased by £59,000 from £2,093,000 to £2,152,000. The increase is necessary to meet a higher than expected level of demand for official publications from United Kingdom Members of the European Parliament, and to restore a shortfall in compensation for the public library discount on official publications, which was occasioned in 1993–94 by excess expenditure on behalf of Members of the European Parliament. The increase will be offset by savings on class XVIII, vote 1, and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proposals he has to change the 1994–95 cash limit or running costs limit for the Office of Public Service and Science.

The cash limit for the Office of Public Service and Science, class XVIII, vote 1 will be decreased by £1,556,000 from £66,428,000 to £64,872,000 and the gross running cost limit will also be decreased by £1,556,000 from £85,506,000 to £83,950,000. The majority of this decrease, £1,500,000, is in effect a transfer to Cabinet Office other services, class XIX, vote 1, in final settlement of an earlier transfer of functions. The remaining £56,000 is being transferred to HMSO, class XVIII, vote 4, to cover the increase in Members of the European Parliament supplies. The decrease is offset by increases to other Government Departments and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what changes he proposes to the estimates, class XVIII, vote 2—Science—for 1994–95.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XVIII, vote 2 will be increased by £840,000 from £1,225,527,000 to £1,226,367,000 to enable the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to meet the cost of certain redundancies at Horticulture Research International. The increase is offset by a similar reduction in class III, vote 4 and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.The opportunity of the supplementary estimate is also being taken to show changes to the appropriations in aid of the vote and to switch resources between certain subheads of the vote.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the distribution of the science budget in 1995–96.

I have discussed the allocations with the Director General of Research Councils and have decided that, subject to parliamentary approval of the supply estimates in due course, the science budget of £1,281.675 million should be allocated as follows.

Allocations for 1995–96	£ million
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council	161.631
Economic and Social Research Council	61,232
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council	365.702
Medical Research Council	277.809
Natural Environment Research Council	155.483
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council	196.367
Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils	1.500
Additional funding for LINK schemes (to be allocated to Research Councils in due course)	3.000
Royal Society	20.786
Royal Academy of Engineering	2.617
OST initiatives	2.250
Research Councils' Pension Scheme	33.298
Total	1,281.675

In making these allocations, I need to ensure that momentum is maintained with implementing the science, engineering and technology White Paper "Realising Our Potential". I have therefore decided that some 5 per cent. of the science budget should be targeted to priority initiatives aimed specifically at taking White Paper issues forward. Further details are set out in the paper "Allocation of the Science Budget 1995–96" which I have placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what was the absenteeism rate for (a) the Central Office of Information, (b) the Office of Public Service and Science, (c) the Chessington Computer Centre, (d) the Civil Service college, (e) HMSO, (f) the occupational health service and (g) the Recruitment and Assessment Services Agency in each year since 1991.

The average number of days sick leave taken by members of the staff of OPSS in each of the last four years was:

	1991	1992	1993	1994
Office of Public Service and Science	3.2	4.5	4.3	3.3

These figures include any weekends and public holidays which occurred within a single period of sickness absence.I have asked the chief executives of each of the other Departments and agencies the hon. Member mentions to write to him with the information he seeks as they are responsible for operational matters within their organisations.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of the total number of scientific researchers employed in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries was employed in United Kingdom in each year since 1975.

The only available data are for the years 1981, 1985 and 1989 and are shown in the table.

Total number of scientific researchers employed in the UK as a percentage of the total employed in OECD countries
Per cent.
	1981	1985	1989
United Kingdom	8.0	6.9	6.0

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what number of scientific researchersunder the Organisation for Economic Co-operationand Development definition were employedby publicy funded institutions in each year since 1975.

Available data start from 1981–1982 and are shown in the table.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what changes he plans to the 1994–95 cash limits for the votes of the Lord Chancellor's Department, class IX, vote 1 and the Public Record Office, class IX, vote 5.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class IX, vote 1 has been increased by £18,175,000 from £760,918,000 to £779,093,000 as a result of a shortfall in civil court fee income. The running cost limit has been reduced by £2,884,000 from £431,330,000 to £428,446,000.The cash limit for class IX, vote 5 has been reduced by £3,000,000 from £53,993,000 to £50,993,000 as a result of reduced expenditure on a major capital project. The running costs limit has been increased by £199,000 from £25,246,000 to £25,445,000. Some £196,000 is for take-up of end-year flexibility entitlement as announced by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 14 July 1994,

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) which advanced gas-cooled reactors owned by Nuclear Electric are affected by the cracking of welds in steam headers; which Scottish reactors are affected by the same problem; and what changes have been made in their position on privatisation following these problems;(2) what considerations his Department is giving within the nuclear review to generic cracking faults in welds on steam leaders of advanced gas-cooled reactors.

The answer I gave to the hon. Member for Leyton on 19 January 1995, Official Report, column 589, explained that cracks had been identified in some of the steam header welds at Heysham 1 and Dungeness B advanced gas-cooled reactor power stations. The power stations owned and operated by Scottish Nuclear Ltd. are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland but I understand that no such cracks have been identified in any Scottish nuclear power station. The matter of the cracks does not fall within the scope of the terms of reference of the nuclear review.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he plans next to meet representatives from the People's Republic of China to discuss import quotas.

My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade has no such plans.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research his Department has carried out into oxygenated petrol; what plans for research into the environmental suitability of oxygenated petrol he has.

The Government are supporting the tri-partite programme, sponsored by the European Commission and the oil and motor industries, which is looking into the effects of motor fuel quality, including the use of oxygenates in petrol, and engine technology on air quality. A report is expected by mid-1995.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what action he proposes to take to protect tenant farmers whose farms are being sold by British Coal.

The sale of British Coal's property is a matter for the corporation.However, British Coal, in considering potential purchasers of the proposed agricultural land, will take every step to satisfy itself that they meet appropriate tests on viability and commitment to the future of the property which they are purchasing. Tenants' rights of tenure are also protected by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade on what grounds he has given authorisation for a British trade delegation to Iraq on 15 February.

I have not given authorisation for a British trade delegation to visit Iraq, nor has such authorisation been sought.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will detail the present involvement of former employees of British Coal in the ownership and management of new companies formed following the privatisation of British Coal; and if he will make a statement.

Tower Colliery was purchased by a team of its former employees and the South Wales regional coal company was purchased by a management buy-out team. Bidders' proposals for employee participation were taken into account in the selection of preferred bidders for the regional coal companies and care and maintenance collieries. The purchasers of the regional coal companies have all undertaken to provide the opportunity for employees to acquire shares.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer of 5 December 1994, Official Report, column 105, on the publication of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission report on the supply of video games received on 14 November 1994, when he now expects the report to be published; and if he will make a statement.

Publication will take place as soon as possible. As related in my previous answer, I shall make an announcement once the report has been published.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what recent changes have been made and what future changes are planned to his Department's cash and running costs limits for 1994–95.

The cash limit for class IV, vote 1—support for business, consumer and investor protection, energy programmes and administration—has been reduced by £710,000 from £1,185,602,001) to £1,184,892,000. This reduction results from the transfer of responsibility for consultancy initiatives to the Scottish—£400,000—and Welsh—£310,000 —Offices for their respective territories.Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the same vote will be increased by a token £1,000 to £1,184,893,000.The gross running cost limit for the Department of Trade and Industry will be reduced by £2,758,000 from £342,217,000 to £339,459,000. This reduction will be offset by an increase of £2,759,000 to cover the expected shortfalls against the Department's research laboratories' original net voted provisions.In addition, subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class IV, vote 4—privatisation of the coal industry—will be increased by £2,000,000 from £15,897,000 to £17,897,000. The increase mainly covers additional costs of privatisation advisers' fees.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when the decision was taken to award the contract to advise the Department of Energy on the future of the coal industry to N. M Rothschild and Son Ltd.; who took the decision; what other companies were invited to tender; what criteria were used for awarding the contract; what was the value of the contract; and if the contract was awarded to the lowest tenderer.

[holding answer 31 January 1995]: N. M. Rothschild and Sons Ltd. was appointed on 31 May 1991. The decision to appoint the company was taken by the then Secretary of State for Energy after receiving recommendations from an interdepartmental panel of officials. In addition to N. M. Rothschild, a further seven companies were invited to tender. Their identity is commercially confidential. The contract was awarded to the tenderer offering the best value for money. The value of the contract, which is still continuing, is commercially confidential.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution has authorised the importation of nitric acid from the United States Hanford plant for use in the reprocessing at Sellafield.

[holding answer 30 January 1995]: The Department of Trade and Industry has responsibility for granting import licences. The import of nitric acid from the United States Hanford plant will be subject to import licensing. Applications for import licences are commercially confidential.

To ask the Attorney-General what proportion and number of non-industrial civil servants in the Departments and agencies for which he has responsibility are registered disabled and disabled as defined by the Cabinet Office document, "Focus on Ability".

The information for the Departments for which I am responsible as at 1 July 1994 is set out in the table.The Treasury Solicitor's Department also employs people with disabilities who are not registered, but the numbers are not readily available.Each of the Law Officers' Departments is an equal opportunities employer.

	Registered disabled staff		Non-registered disabled staff
	Proportion Per cent.	Number	Proportion Per cent.	Number
Legal Secretariat to the Law Officers	—	—	—	—
Crown Prosecution Service	0.5	31	0.6	41
Serious Fraud Office Treasury Solicitor's	—	—	2.25	3
Department	2.2	11	n/a	n/a

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when the Government are planning to complete its review of radioactive waste policy.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Attercliffe (Mr. Betts) on Tuesday 6 December, Official Report, column 132.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 24 January, Official Report, columns 109–10, what possible causes of Greenpeace's high readings were investigated apart from the misuse of equipment.

The radiological measurements made by Greenpeace personnel at the Drigg low level radioactive waste disposal site were just one component of the complaints made by Greenpeace following its illegal entry. Each component was investigated thoroughly by Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution.The Greenpeace complaint provided no reliable evidence of unauthorised disposals of low level radioactive waste, least of all from its radiological monitoring of waste in the disposal trench.HMIP considered the breadth of the findings from its investigations and found no evidence to support the Greenpeace contention that radioactive waste of levels in excess of those permitted had been disposed of at Drigg.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 24 January, Official Report, column 109, who carried out the monitoring of the advertising campaigns run by his Department; and what were the conclusions of this monitoring, with particular regard to projected energy savings flowing from the campaigns and cost-effectiveness of the campaigns.

The "Helping the Earth Begins At Home" campaign was monitored by BMRB International, which tracked significant changes in public knowledge, attitudes and intended energy saving behaviour. The current "Wasting Energy Costs The Earth" campaign, which is closely synchronised with the private sector, therefore places more emphasis on individual actions and is being monitored by National Opinion Poll.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 24 January, Official Report, column 112, if he will list those firms of consultants which are known centrally by his Department to have worked for his Department in 1992–93 and 1993–94.

Firms of consultants known centrally to have worked for the Department in 1992–93 and 1993–94 are those employed specifically in connection with the market testing programme.The list, excluding those employed direct by the agencies, is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what controls exist on the use to which local authorities may put planning gain money and on the geographical area in which it may be spent; and if he will make a statement.

The use to which local planning authorities put money received in connection with agreements under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, and the geographical area in which such money may be spent, will largely depend on the precise terms of the agreement, which will be registered as a local land charge.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what considerations he proposes to bear in mind in formulating an approach to legislation to increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste.

Clauses 76 to 78 of the Environment Bill, which is currently before Parliament, empower the Secretary of State, subject to certain conditions, to make regulations placing on particular industry sectors a producer responsibility obligation in relation to the waste which arises from their products, and the packaging around them. Individual companies may choose to discharge the obligation by acting alone or by joining an "exemption scheme" which will organise recovery and recycling operations on their behalf.The Government propose to legislate using these powers to provide a framework for an industry-led approach to increase the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. This is in response to requests from industry to overcome the potential problem of "free-riders" who might seek to avoid their share of the responsibility to act. The legislative framework will serve to deliver our recovery and recycling obligations under the EC directive on packaging and packaging waste. It will build on the work of the former producer responsibility group and the working representative advisory group, which has now been formed with the backing of some 50 major companies.The proposed powers are wide in scope and allow a variety of different approaches to suit the circumstances of different waste streams, should legislation be necessary or appropriate. In reaching a conclusion on the best approach for packaging waste, we propose to bear in mind the following considerations:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has to increase the funds available for the home energy efficiency scheme in the current financial year.

I am pleased to announce that we have been able to increase the provision for the home energy efficiency scheme by £8.85 million, bringing the total available for grants in 1994–95 to about £77 million. This is a welcome boost to a successful and high quality scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has to change his Department's cash limits and running costs limits for 1994–95.

The Housing Corporation non-voted cash limit, covering grants and capital expenditure financed by the Housing Corporation in England, will be increased by £5,832,000 to £1,484,540,000. The increase will allow additional expenditure of £2,177,000 on city challenge projects, and of £3,655,000 on the corporation's approved development programme.The regeneration initiatives non-voted cash limit will be increased by £2,612,000 from £292,853,000 to £1,295,465,000. The changes reflect a transfer of £2,177,000 to the Housing Corporation cash limit to cover additional expenditure on city challenge projects; a transfer of £715,000 from the regeneration initiative cash limit to allow increased payments on urban programme loan charges within class VII, vote 3, regeneration initiatives; and an increase of £5,504,000 to allow the issue of an all—purpose supplementary credit approval in respect of East Manchester regeneration programme expenditure. The increase is covered in full by take-up of part of the entitlement to capital end year flexibility announced by the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 14 July 1994,

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many employment agencies provided social work or social work or social care staff for each of the last five years;(2) how many employment agencies provided domiciliary care staff for each of the last five years.

The information is not available in the form requested. However,.it is estimated that immediately prior to the abolition of licensing on 3 January 1995, there were about 3,000 licensed employment agencies which had indicated that their field of activity might include domiciliary or social care work.I also refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the then Under-Secretary of State on 30 November 1992,

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what estimate he has of the cost of market testing the careers service; and if he will detail (a) the transaction costs and (b) the tendering costs.

The process by which my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State is meeting his duty to provide the careers service is competitive tendering, not market testing.I have no information on the costs of compiling bids; they were met by the bidders. The costs to the Employment Department were about £300,000, which were found from existing resources. They included £220,000 on staff and associated costs for a small team of administrators—1994–95—and £74,000 on a prospectus and publicity for tendering in 1994–95. In addition, some staff from the 10 Government offices were involved. Further figures could not be provided without incurring disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list which of the careers services that have gone out for tender have (a) remained in-house, (b) been won by the private sector and (c) are still outstanding.

This information is not yet available. No contracts have been awarded. Preferred bidders have been selected for post-tender negotiation and the contracts will be announced after negotiations are complete.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many people are currently employed as tele-workers; and what is his estimate of the number that will be employed in 2000.

I regret that the requested information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what are the principal components of the league tables by which he measures the effectiveness of training and enterprise councils.

The most recent table of inter-TEC performance comparisons consisted of the following indicators:

1. The cost per output point for youth training and youth credits;

2. The number of national vocational qualifications per 100 leavers for youth training and youth credits;

3. The cost per output point for training for work;

4. The number of NVQs per 100 leavers for TfW;

5. The number of positive outcomes per 100 leavers for TfW;

6. The percentage achievement against the investors in people commitments target;

7. The performance of the TEC in relation to the Government's YT guarantee.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give details of the rules for approving spending projects by the training and enterprise councils to spend surpluses earned in contracts with his Department.

Training and enterprise councils are required to agree annual business plans and three-year corporate plans with the Department. Where an operating surplus occurs, a TEC is contractually required to use it solely on activities agreed with the Department to further the objectives of its corporate plan and business plan. Where projects have been specifically identified in an agreed business plan, a TEC may carry them out without further agreement. Separate approval is required for the use of surpluses on projects not specifically identified in the business plan, although meeting the plan's objectives. For such a project, the Department needs to be satisfied that it is in accordance with the aims of the plan and represents value for money. The TEC also needs to show that it has the authority to implement the project under its memorandum and articles of association, that the project is financially viable and that it is not in conflict with other parts of the TEC operating agreement or with Government policy. TECs are under a general contractual obligation to provide value for money on the expenditure of all funds which derive from the Government.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the principal elements of the debenture held against each of the training and enterprise councils at the commencement of each financial year.

Employees whose pay for the survey pay period was not affected by absence—distribution of gross hourly earnings showing numbers and percentages. April 1994
	Below £1.50		£1.50 to £2.50		£2.50 to £3.50
	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.	Number	Per cent.
Full-time males
Wales	0	0	4,741	1.1	18,964	4.4
Great Britain	9,000	0.1	66,000	0.7	292,000	3.1
Full-time females
Wales	0	0.1	2,000	0.7	24,000	9.9
Great Britain	6,000	0.1	50,000	0.9	427,000	7.7
Part-time males
Wales	0	0.9	3,000	5.4	15,000	29.5
Great Britain	17,000	1.5	48,000	4.3	269,000	23.9
Part-time females
Wales	9,000	3.8	5,000	2.1	57,000	24.1
Great Britain	43,000	0.9	116,000	2.4	1,099,000	22.8

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the number of persons in Islwyn in full-time work in (a) hairdressing, (b) the retail trade, (c) clothing manufacturing and (d) hotel and

The Department agreed the same debenture arrangements with all training and enterprise councils when they were first set up. The debenture gives the Department a charge over all of a TEC's fixed and floating assets. I have arranged for a copy to be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many training providers will have to close as result of the reduction in expenditure on training for work announced in the Budget.

Training and enterprise councils contract with training providers for the delivery of training for work. It is a matter for TECs to decide with whom they will contract according to the scale and nature of the training required locally. Government regional offices are currently negotiating with TECs for 1995–96 contracts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) if he will list for (a) Islwyn, (b) Wales and (c) Great Britain the number of persons and percentage of persons in (i) full-time work and (ii) part-time work earning (1) less than £1.50 an hour, (2) between £1.50 and £2.50 an hour and (3) between £2.50 and £3.50 an hour breaking these figures down by gender;(2) what is the

Information for Islwyn is not available.Information available from the new earnings survey for Wales and Great Britain is provided in the table:catering sectors in the last five years, also expressing these numbers as a percentage of the work force.

The available information is from the periodic censuses of employment and is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State Employment what proposals he has to change for his Department's cash limits and running costs limits in 1994–95.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, these changes will be made:

(a) the cash limit for class V, vote 1, Department of Employment: programmes and central services, will be increased by £14,414,000 from £2,302,056,000 to £2,316,470,000. The increase in the cash limit arises from additional Employment Department group restructuring costs, training and enterprise councils' administrative costs and Skills Training Agency costs of £36,514,000 offset by programme underspends of £15,300,000 and running costs underspends of £6,800,000;

(b) the cash limit for class V, vote 2, Department of Employment: Employment Service, will be reduced by £15,300,000 from £738,529,000 to £723,229,000;

(c) the single running costs limit for class V, vote 1, Department of Employment: programmes and central services, and class V, vote 2, Department of Employment: Employment Service, will also be increased by £14,414,000 from £1,437,932,000 to £1,452,346,000. The increase reflects the take-up of £12,614,000 in respect of end-year flexibility arrangements for running costs expenditure, as announced by my right hon. Friend, the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 14 July 1994, Official Report, columns 729–34, and a transfer of £1,800,000 from class V, vote 3, Health and Safety Executive;

(d) the cash limit on class V, vote 3, Health and Safety Executive and Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, will be reduced £1,800,000 from £212,779,000 to £210,979,000 as a result of a transfer to class V, vote 1, Department of Employment: programmes and central services;

(e) the Health and Safety Executive running costs limit will be reduced by £1,800,000 from £179,124,000 to £177,324,000 as a result of a transfer to class V, vote 1, Department of Employment: programmes and central services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the actual or estimated level of funding from the Overseas Development Administration budget to Palestinian non-governmental organisations in each of the years 1991 to 1995; and if he will list the organisations funded.

We fund the programmes of a number of British non-governmental organisations which provide assistance to Palestinians. The majority of these work with Palestinian partner organisations. We estimate that since 1991–92, our expenditure through such agencies operating in the occupied territories has been:

Year	£
1991–92	953,000
1992–93	1,271,000
1993–94	1,280,000
1994–95 (to date)	845,000

In addition, Palestinians have benefit from assistance provided through non-governmental organisations working in the Lebanon.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the European Community attribution of overseas aid by recipient country in 1993–94.

Country by country figures for EC aid spending in 1993–94 are not readily available.For the calendar year 1993, total payments on aid from EC budget, as set out in the draft EC general budget for 1995, were:

	mecu
Food aid and humanitarian aid	774.7
Asia and Latin America	354.0
Mediterranean	351.5
Eastern and central europe	719.5
Other co-operation measures (includes co-operation with NGOs and aid to South Africa)	338.3
Total	2,538.0

The cost to the United Kingdom of this expenditure was as shown in the table, based on an average exchange rate for 1993 of £1 = ecu 1.2829, and a United Kingdom share of the EC budget for 1993 of 16.52 per cent.

	£ million
Food aid and humanitarian aid	99.8
Asia and Latin America	45.6

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what mechanisms exist for the Government to review the value for money of contributions to the World Health Organisation for its work in the developing world.

The United Kingdom has been active in seeking reforms necessary to ensure that its assessed and voluntary contributions to the World Health Organisation achieve the optimum value for money. For instance, the United Kingdom has chaired the committee of the WHO executive board set up to review the role of WHO. In addition, the United Kingdom targets its voluntary contributions to specific WHO-managed programmes on those that tackle priority problems in developing countries and has established a set of procedures by which to assess their effectiveness.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much was given to the International Atomic Energy Authority out of the overseas aid budget in 1993–94; and on what grounds.

In 1993–94, the Overseas Development Administration gave the IAEA an accountable grant of £500,000 to cover the cost of selected projects, aimed at sustainable development, in developing countries who are signatories of the non proliferation treaty. This grant was paid as part of the £2.5 million pledged by the UK over five years commencing 1991–92 to encourage countries who are signatories of the non-proliferation treaty in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which 10 countries have received most out of the bilateral emergency aid budget in the last 10 years; and what amounts they have received.

It is not possible to provide comparable country-specific information on the bilateral emergency aid programme for years before 1987–88. The top 10 bilateral emergency aid recipients between 1987–88 and 1993–94 are given in the table.

Top 10 ODA bilateral emergency aid recipients 1987–88 to 1993–94
Country	Expenditure (£ million)
Ethiopia	100.8
States of ex-Yugoslavia	89.9
Sudan	78.0
Mozambique	59.3
Iraq	47.3
Pakistan	30.2
Malawi	29.3

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs which 10 countries have received most out of the aid and trade provision of the overseas aid budget in the last 10 years; and what amounts they have received.

The top 10 recipients of the aid and trade provision expenditure between 1984 and 1993–94 are given in the table:

Country	Expenditure (£ million)
China	117.6
Malaysia	82.2
Indonesia	44.5
Turkey	43.2
Zimbabwe	40.9
Kenya	31.4
India	30.9
Philippines	25.0
Morocco	21.9
Ghana	19.7

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what British aid to Nigeria was spent in 1993 to 1995.

At the time of the annulment of democratic elections in June 1993, British aid to Nigeria was supporting projects in education, agriculture, forestry, health, energy and public administration. There was also residual expenditure from balance of payments agreements signed in 1989 and 1990. Since June 1993, new aid has been confined to projects bringing direct benefits to poor Nigerians in the health/water, education and natural resources sectors. This accords with EU guidelines agreed last year. We have also met outstanding commitments to projects already under way in June 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the European Community's attribution of overseas aid to Africa in 1993–94.

For the calendar year 1993, total payments from the European Development Fund—most of the beneficiaries of which are in sub-Saharan Africa—were 1,337 million ecu or £1,042 million¹. A country by country breakdown of cumulative expenditure from successive European development funds is available in the Commission report "EU-ACP Co-operation", a copy of which has been placed in the library.'United Kingdom contributions to the European Development Fund totalled £172 million in the UK financial year 1993–94.Expenditure from the European Community budget in 1993 on the "Programme of positive measures regarding South Africa" amounted to 60.4 million ecu or £47.1 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes have been made in the 1994–95 cash limit for expenditure by the Overseas Development Administration.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit on the external assistance vote-class II, vote 5—will be reduced overall by £24,176,000 from £1,923,943,000 to £1,899,767,000. The overall reduction is the net effect of a decrease of £30,500,000 due to overspend on European Community budgetary spending on aid for developing countries in 1993; a decrease of £2,700,000 under roll-over arrangements in respect of the Commonwealth Development Corporation's excess cash holding at the end of 1993–94; an increase of £8,964,000 in respect of new provision for certain aid and trade provision projects which are no longer being financed under the authority of the Overseas Development and Co-operation Act 1980; and an increase of £59,000 in respect of the eventual transfer of the Crown Agents to an independent foundation. Pending parliamentary approval of the new provision for certain aid and trade provision projects, urgent expenditure, estimated at £4,627,000, will be met by a repayable advance from the contingencies fund.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give figures for each of the last five years, including current expenditure plans, for balance of payments support for Zambia and Zimbabwe paid for from (a) the overseas aid budget and (b) any other source.

[holding answer 1 February 1995]: Expenditure from the overseas aid budgets is as follows:

Bilateral programme aid to Zambia and Zimbabwe 1989–90 to 1993–94 (£000)
	Zambia	Zimbabwe
1989–90	—	53
1990–91	30,000	1-6
1991–92	12,500	7,500
1992–93	27,500	22,500
1993–94	25,000	15,000
1 Undisbursed programme aid repaid by Crown Agents.

During the current financial year, 1994–95, for Zambia we have already spent £12.5 million and plan to disburse a further £12.5 million shortly, and for Zimbabwe we plan to disburse £15 million programme aid subject to confirmation from the IMF board that the Government's economic reform programme is on track.We do not have figures for other donors' balance of payments support for Zimbabwe.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list, for each year since 1988, including current expenditure plans, expenditure on aid to (a) Zimbabwe and (b) Zambia in (i) cash terms and (ii) real terms, broken down according to the principal objectives for British aid as stated in the British aid overseas aid annual review 1994.

[holding answer 1 February 1995]: Tables containing the information have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will give details of publications produced by his Department assessing the performance of British aid in (a) Zambia and (b) Zimbabwe.

[holding answer 1 February 1995]: Recent published reports on British aid projects in Zambia and Zimbabwe are listed in ODA's catalogue of evaluation studies, copies of which are in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list, for each of the last five years, total aid expenditure to (a) Zambia and (b) Zimbabwe in support of structural adjustment programmes; and if he will give these figures as a proportion of total aid expenditure to these countries.

[holding answer 1 February 1995]: A table showing support for economic reform has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will list each training and tuition course with a total cost exceeding £5,000 paid for by (a) his Department and (b) his agencies during the last i2 months, showing the title and objectives of each course, the name of the organisations engaged, the total cost of each course, a summary of the responsibilities of staff members taking part and the process for course evaluation by his Department or agency.

No training course undertaken by staff of the Privy Council Office in the last 12 months has cost in excess of £5,000. I am not responsible for any agencies.

To ask the Prime Minister what proposals he has to visit Belfast, South.

I have no immediate plans to do so.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Thursday 2 February.

This morning I presided at a meeting of the Cabinet and had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 26 January, Official Report, column 300, to the hon. Member for Cardiff, West (Mr. Morgan), if he will list the representations he has received concerning the impact of reduced activity by the Countryside Council for Wales on the commitment arising from the biodiversity convention under the Rio treaty; and if he will make a statement.

I have now received three such representations—from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the Wales Wildlife and Countryside Link and a member of the public. My right hon. Friend has no plans to privatise the Countryside Council for Wales.

To ask the Prime Minister what proposals there are to change the 1994–95 cash limit or running costs limit for the Cabinet Office: other service vote.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for the Cabinet Office: Other Services, class XIX, vote 1, will be increased by £1,500,000 from £44,833,000 to £46,333,000. At the same time the running costs limit will be increased by £1,000,000 from £43,214,000 to £44,214,000.The increases reflect transfers from the Cabinet Office: Office of Public Service and Science, class XVIII, vote 1, of £500,000 for central services and £1,000,000 running costs coverage in respect of functions already transferred to class XIX, vote 1.Both increases are offset by inter-departmental transfers and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list each training and tuition course with a total cost exceeding £5,000 paid for by (a) his Department and (b) his agencies during the last 12 months, showing the title and objectives of each course, the name of the organisations engaged, the total cost of each course, a summary of the responsibilities of staff members taking part and the process for course evaluation by the Department or agency.

The breakdown of expenditure over the last 12 months by the Department of National Heritage, including its two executive agencies, Royal Parks and Historic Royal Palaces is as set out. The breakdown covers individual courses or series of courses where the total costs exceeds £5,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what was the weekly revenue to the Football Trust and the Foundation for Sport and the Arts since 1 April 1994; what is his estimate of the national lottery's impact on the work of these two bodies; and if he will make a statement.

Details of the weekly revenue to the Football Trust and the Foundation for Sport and the Arts since 1 April 1994 are shown in the table. It is for the foundation and the Football Trust to assess the extent of any impact that the national lottery may have on their operations. I understand that the foundation is considering how best to adjust its grant regime to complement the national lottery, in particular through a greater element of revenue funding. I welcome this.

Week	FT/RPBD1£	FT/STB2£	FSA3£
2 April 1994	472,938	290,772	1,384,512
9 April 1994	455,776	260,358	1,368,005
16 April 1994	496,706	299,212	1,489,597
23 April 1994	460,668	284,011	1,381,482
30 April 1994	467,729	287,575	1,401,470
7 May 1994	465,822	257,018	1,396,952
14 May 1994	446,456	321,889	1,338,873
21 May 1994	453,330	285,620	1,359,497
28 May 1994	442,890	292,099	1,328,156
4 June 1994	425,367	240,062	1,275,652
11 June 1994	439,093	297,768	1,316,772
18 June 1994	437,215	291,187	1,311,169
25 June 1994	428,668	268,868	1,285,525
2 July 1994	426,861	268,395	1,280,104
9 July 1994	419,999	262,881	1,259,535
16 July 1994	428,982	246,560	1,286,472
23 July 1994	431,189	265,883	1,293,081
30 July 1994	415,037	248,205	1,235,054
6 August 1994	417,838	243,639	1,253,026
13 August 1994	429,801	250,760	1,288,889
20 August 1994	435,782	247,901	1,306,816
27 August 1994	453,486	249,846	1,359,927
3 September 1994	460,306	262,087	1,380,386
10 September 1994	453,154	273,094	1,358,920
17 September 1994	459,028	270,485	1,376,437
24 September 1994	467,589	274,187	1,402,085
1 October 1994	471,486	254,502	1,413,657
8 October 1994	467,954	255,235	1,402,557
15 October 1994	473,433	260,026	1,420,043
22 October 1994	473,752	259,998	1,419,991
29 October 1994	468,851	255,899	1,406,937
5 November 1994	479,946	279,026	1,439,882
12 November 1994	473,315	256,843	1,420,410
19 November 1994	455,816	248,092	1,367,132
26 November 1994	450,908	243,429	1,354,540

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment he has made of (a) the revenue earned for the Exchequer to date by national lottery ticket sales, (b) the interest earned on the moneys lodged in the national lottery distribution fund prior to disbursement by the lottery distribution bodies and (c) the revenue accrued to the Exchequer from any of the funds under (b) above invested in gilt-edged securities.

Lottery duty collected by Customs and Excise for the period to the end of December 1994 was £44,348,381. Interest earned to date by the national lottery distribution fund through investment of the proceeds of the lottery, and which accrues to the good causes, totals £661,699. No revenue accrues to the Exchequer from the investment of the NLDF in gilt-edged securities; all gains are for the benefit of the good causes.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is his estimate of the amount spent on sponsorship of arts, sporting and other local community events by (a) Northern Electric and (b) the other regional electricity companies.

Detailed information on the sponsorship activities of individual companies is not held by my Department.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what changes he proposes to make to his Department's cash limits and running costs limits for 1994–95.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimates, the following changes will be made:

(i) The cash limit of class XI, vote 1, museums and galleries, will be increased by £4,226,000 from £223,122,000 to £227,348,000 to increase provision for the Government indemnity scheme by £200,000 and for assets accepted in lieu of tax by £4,160,000.

(ii) The cash limit for class XI, vote 3, libraries, will be increased by £6,500,000 from £139,303,000 to £145,803,000 to increase provision for British Library St. Pancras project.

(iii) The provision for class XI, vote 4, home broadcasting, will be increased by £8,438,000 from £1,826,205,000 to £1,834,643,000 to provide extra funds for the British Broadcasting Corporation of £10,107,000, additional provision for the Independent Television Commission to reimburse certain independent television companies who paid excess levy to the consolidated fund in 1992 of £330,000, and to meet certain reimbursement costs in respect of the overpayment of television broadcasting licence fees of £390,000.

(iv) The cash limit for class XI, vote 5, film, tourism, sport and broadcasting, will be increased by £3,122,000 from £129,653,000 to £132,775,000 to reflect the increased receipts in respect of tourism grant repayments of £250,000, the appropriation in aid of certain receipts from the Sports Council of £459,000, increased provision for the Broadcasting Standards Council and for broadcasting regulatory services of £1,244,000, and to provide provision for the commemorations to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of world war II of £3,000,000.

(v) The cash limit for class XI, vote 6, royal palaces, Historic Royal Palaces Agency, Royal Parks Agency, historic buildings, ancient monuments and national heritage, will be increased by £2,154,000 from £194,962,000 to £197,116,000. The increase is the net result of additional provision of £1,438,000 for urgent capital works and maintenance expenditure on certain historic buildings and £100,000 in the Royal Parks; and to cover the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England superannuation costs of £675,000.

(vi) The cash limit for class XI, vote 7, administration, has been increased by £283,000 from £21,600,000 to £21,883,000. This is required to provide for the transfer of functions of the conservation unit from the Department of the Environment to the Department of National Heritage. As a result, the Department's gross running cost limit will be increased by £281,000 from £27,928,000 to £28,209,000.

(vii) The cash limit for class XI, vote 8, Office of the National Lottery, has been increased by £500,000 from £2,500,000 to £3,000,000. This is required to meet the capital costs of setting up Oflot's new offices and as a result of firmer costs being produced for consultancy, professional arid legal advice associated with the grant of licences. Consequently, the Departments running costs limit will be increased by £266,000 from £2,070,000 to £2,336,000. A sum equal to the net provision required will be paid from the national lottery distribution fund to the consolidated fund as extra receipts.

(viii) The increases will be offset by savings and charges to the reserve, and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Eduction how many and what percentage of the school-age population, aged five to 16 years, are being educated in private schools.

In England in January 1994 there were 411,200 pupils aged five to 16 in independent schools. This represents 6.2 per cent. of pupils aged five to 16 in all schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many four-year-olds are in receipt of nursery education; and what percentage of the total number of children in that age group that constitutes.

In January 1994, 48,000 four-year-olds, who were also aged four at the previous 31 August in England were being taught in maintained nursery schools and nursery classes in maintained primary schools, representing 11 per cent. of the relevant age group. The number of pupils who reached age four during the autumn term is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what were the absenteeism rates for (a) her Department and (b) the Teachers' Pensions Agency in 1994.

Information about sickness absence rates for 1994 in the Department, including the Teachers' Pensions Agency, is not yet available.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the current number of children of statutory school age in Warwickshire schools other than grant-maintained schools; and what was it in 1990.

In January 1994, 57,900 pupils aged five to 16 were being taught in primary, middle secondary and special schools maintained by Warwickshire local education authority. In January 1990, the corresponding figure was 60,100.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will encourage all secondary schools in the public sector to show the Thames Television film "The World at War" every four years.

Decisions on the use of any particular television programme or other source material as a teaching aid in schools are a matter for individual schools and teachers. However, the Government have taken steps to ensure that pupils are taught about the second world war by ensuring that it remains a compulsory part of the history curriculum taught to pupils aged 11 to 14 in maintained schools in England and Wales. In addition, and in view of the importance of the forthcoming national commemorations of the end of the second world war, the Department has commissioned the production of educational packs for all primary and secondary schools on the ending of the second world war and the significance of VE and VJ days.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what information he has (a) on the capital borrowing allocation given to each local education authority, the bid submitted by each authority and the number of pupils in the area and (b) the same information for grant-maintained schools within each local education authority area.

Information on local education authority capital bids for 1995–96 was given in the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Wallsend (Mr. Byers) on 1 December 1994, Official Report, columns 955–58. Information on capital borrowing allocations for 1995–96 was given in the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Gravesham (Mr. Arnold) on 20 December 1994, Official Report, columns 119–20. Information on numbers of pupils in maintained schools and grant-maintained schools by local authority area, as at January 1994, is attached.The information requested on capital bids and allocations for grant-maintained schools are a matter for the Funding Agency for Schools. I have asked the chairman of the Funding Agency for Schools to write to the hon. Member with this information.

Pupils in maintained schools in each LEA in England January 1994
	Primary and secondary schools
	LEA maintained	Grant-maintained
Corporation of London	214	0
Camden	19,204	2,381
Greenwich	35,060	0
Hackney	24,328	0
Hammersmith	13,839	1,237
Islington	22,872	0
Kensington and Chelsea	8,659	944
Lambeth	20,645	4,593
Lewisham	31,281	421
Southwark	27,771	4,133
Tower Hamlets	32,729	891
Wandsworth	19,197	7,181
Westminster	16,690	0
Barking	25,858	0
Barnet	33,023	9,769
Bexley	30,746	3,287
Brent	26,095	8,997
Bromley	27,777	11,803
Croydon	37,245	4,680
Ealing	31,667	7,408
Enfield	35,880	5,791
Haringey	28,999	0
Harrow	27,140	528
Havering	31,123	3,877
Hillingdon	19,487	15,171
Hounslow	31,998	2,123
Kingston upon Thames	15,409	3,149
Merton	22,967	0
Newham	39,071	582
Redbridge	33,944	1,125
Richmond upon Thames	18,817	0
Sutton	17,257	7,572
Waltham Forest	29,571	2,099
Birmingham	157,626	14,802
Coventry	48,838	0
Dudley	42,652	5,054
Sandwell	50,056	653
Solihull	33,066	559
Walsall	41,666	6,366
Wolverhampton	39,205	2,404
Knowsley	27,365	731
Liverpool	79,806	2,366
St. Helens	29,394	0
Sefton	46,429	0
Wirral	50,684	2,107
Bolton	41,408	3,261
Bury	27,348	232
Manchester	68,616	0
Oldham	41,105	0
Rochdale	32,590	2,010
Salford	34,474	430
Stockport	41,614	0
Tameside	34,297	2,371
Trafford	29,429	3,083
Wigan	49,486	0
Barnsley	34,232	0
Doncaster	51,327	0
Rotherham	43,141	0
Sheffield	69,039	2,505
Bradford	81,961	5,565
Calderdale	28,562	4,709