To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

A total of 67 letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

I sent a total of 89 letters to hon. Members last month while my colleague, the Parliamentary Secretary, sent a total of 40.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when the International Maritime Organisation code of practice on the sea transport of nuclear material of November 1993 was incorporated into United Kingdom law.

The International Maritime Organisation's code for the safe carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high level radioactive wastes in flasks on board ships, agreed in November 1993, has not been incorporated into United Kingdom law. The code is voluntary and few states have incorporated it into law. Ships carrying such cargoes to or from United Kingdom ports will be expected to comply with the code's requirement. In the case of United Kingdom-registered ships carrying such cargoes, letters of compliance with the code would be issued by the Marine Safety Agency if it was satisfied that the ships so complied. Foreign flagged ships are required to have letters of compliance issued by their marine administrations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the number of lives which have been saved by the MOT system during the last 30 years;(2) what estimate he has made of how much it has cost, and how much extra mileage has been travelled to carry out MOTs in the last 30 years;(3) how many people have been employed by the MOT system during the last 30 years.

The information requested can be provided, if available, only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what information he holds about the number of occasions on which bus operators in Greater Manchester have been (a) warned about safety defects on their buses and (b) ordered to cease operation of buses because of safety reasons for each year since 1990.

This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department which will (a) follow the pay arrangements of the sponsoring Department and (b) pursue an independent and separate route under the delegated pay option (i) from April 1995 and (ii) from April 1996.

Four NDPBs sponsored by my Department have paid staff. The pay arrangements for all of these will be unchanged in April 1995.For April 1996 the Trinity House Lighthouse Service, the Northern Lighthouse board and the London Regional passenger committee intend to follow the Department's central pay arrangements arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport for what reasons the Minister of State cancelled his presentation to the west coast main line all-party committee; what is the current position regarding the west coast main line feasibility study; and if he will make a statement.

I am currently awaiting advice from Railtrack on the implementation strategy for the project. Once I have that advice, I will be in a better position to discuss the way forward with the committee.The planned meeting was cancelled after I had consulted with the joint chairmen of the committee. I have written to all members of the committee who attended the cancelled meeting.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what consideration he has given to introducing a system by which newly qualified drivers are required by law to display a P-plate on their vehicle to identify to other drivers that they are still inexperienced; what representations he has received on this subject; and if he will make a statement.

The introduction of probationary plates—P-plates—was one of the options included for comment in the new driver safety consultation paper of August 1993. This option received a mixed response from consultees and it was decided to consider it further when the full results were available of a study into the of "Restricted" plates in Northern Ireland. This study has recently been completed; it concluded that "Restricted" plates did not have a discernible effect on accident reduction.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many miles of railway track are in areas of the country where train drivers are un to communicate with signal boxes by telephone.

At present, no more than 500 miles of the rail network—representing approximately 5 per cent. of the route mileage—are in areas not covered by the national radio network which enables these communications to take place. Within the next 12 months, as a result of a substantial investment programme, this will be reduced to 200 miles—representing approximately 2 per cent. of the route mileage—excluding tunnels and cuttings. Complete coverage by the national radio network is not reasonably practicable.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce proposals for the future of the taxi and private hire vehicle trades.

The Government have today published their response to the Transport Select Committee's fourth report on taxi and private hire vehicles. The response, Command Paper 2715, forms the Government's official statement on the outcome of the taxi review.The most important features of the response are:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the noise levels on take-off created by (a) the Ilyushin 76 and (b) the Antonov 12.

Noise certification data provided by the Russian Civil Aviation Authority show that at a certificated take-off weight of 170 tonnes, the IL-76TD with D-30KP engines has a noise level of 102.7 EPNdB—sideline—and 103.1 EPNdB—flyover. Equivalent data do not exist for the AN-12 but its estimated performance is within the range 93 to 95.9 EPNdB at a take-off weight of 61 tonnes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

In January this year, 1,290 letters were received in the Department of Transport from hon. Members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

In January this year, 1,935 letters were sent to hon. Members by Ministers in the Department of Transport. This breaks down by Minister as follows:

Ministers	Number of letters sent to hon. Members in January
Dr. Brian Mawhinney	109
John Watts	1,045
Steven Norris	679
Viscount Goschen	102
Total	1,935

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the details of the rail and light rail projects to be given capital financial assistance by his Department in 1995–96; and what proportion of total expenditure on such projects will he spent in Scotland.

Financial provision for the national railways in 1995–96 is expected to provide for some £1 billion of investment, of which about three quarters will be publicly funded. It is for the railway operators to allocate resources across the rail network in Great Britain.On light rail we will continue to fund the South Yorkshire supertram project, and we have set aside funding for two new schemes—Croydon Tramlink and Midland Metro line 1—subject to satisfactory financing arrangements being agreed. The Secretary of State for Transport is not responsible for light rail schemes in Scotland.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport on what date, and for what reason, information concerning fees paid to companies and partnerships employed by his Department to provide advice or assistance with rail privatisation became commercially confidential.

Information about specific fees paid on individual commissions has always been commercially confidential.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations his Department has received from (a) consultants, (b) other outside organisations or (c) individuals concerning the publication of information detailing fees paid to companies and partnerships employed by his Department to provide advice or assistance with rail privatisation.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will be able to offer guidance on the nature and content of the theory test element of the new driving test.

Soon.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what accumulated balances are currently held by each of the grant-maintained schools in Wales.

[pursuant to his reply, 14 February c.610]: Two of the schools listed should have shown deficits in the accumulated balances. The schools are as follow:

Schools	£
Pen-Y-Bryn, Clwyd	1,546
Cwmcarn, Gwent	18,510

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will release the receipts from the sale of council housing on to Deeside to Alyn and Deeside district council to build homes for rent and repair council houses, and if he will make a statement.

Councils in Wales can use some or all of their new right-to-buy receipts depending on their indebtedness. If they are still in debt, they have to use only 75 per cent. of right-to-buy receipts to reduce debt. The balance is available for new capital spending. When they are debt free, councils can use the full amount of new right-to-buy receipts for capital spending. There are no plans to change section 64 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 as it applies to the reserved part of capital receipts.At 31 March last year, Alyn and Deeside district council had usable capital receipts of £1,000,000 and council housing debt of £23,000,000. Welsh district councils had total council housing debt of £1,203,000,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

A total of 257.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

During January 1995, I sent 102 letters to individual Members and one letter to Welsh Opposition leaders. My hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff, North (Mr. Jones) sent 190 letters to individual members and my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd, North-West (Mr. Richards) sent 143 letters to individual members and two letters to all Welsh members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales when he will make an announcement about the reorganisation of community health councils in Wales.

I am grateful to all those who responded to our consultation paper last year regarding the reorganisation of community health councils in Wales. Having considered all the responses, I am now able to announce revised proposals.CHCs have an important role in ensuring that the health service is responsive to patients' needs, and attentive to their complaints.I am no advocate of reorganisation for its own sake, but changes to health authority boundaries will make some adjustments necessary. Where CHC and local authorities boundaries can be matched up easily it is worthwhile to do this too, but where it would mean redrawing the map completely and disturbing arrangements that work well at present it is not.I have decided on boundary changes that will be useful but will not cause unnecessary upheaval. I want CHCs to be able to concentrate on their job in the months ahead, not worry about reorganising themselves.Subject to consideration of any further representations I may receive, I shall therefore propose regulations to bring about, by 1 April 1996, the boundary and name changes listed as follows, and neither to create any wholly new nor merge any existing CHCs.(a) Minor boundary changes between the following CHCs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) how much United Kingdom funding has been made available for the third international airport at Eldoret, Kenya; and what is the total cost of the project;(2) what representations have been made by him to the Kenyan Government concerning a third international airport at Eldoret, Kenya;(3) if he will make it his policy to suspend British Government donor support to Kenya if the Kenyan Government proceed with the construction of a third international airport in Eldoret, Kenya.

[holding answer 17 February 1995]: The total cost of the proposed Eldoret airport is believed to be $85 million. We have no firm information about the source of financing. We, and other donors, have raised with the Government of Kenya the priority of this project. No United Kingdom aid funds have been, or will be, made available.This project is likely to be one of a range of issues discussed during forthcoming missions of the IMF and World bank, the outcome of which will be an important factor in deciding future aid levels.

To ask the Lord President of the Council (1) how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month;(2) how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

In the course of January, I received from hon. Members 12 letters, some of which were dealt with informally, and sent seven. I have today replied to the hon. Member's own letter of 20 January.

To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee what is the policy of the House on the recycling of waste paper.

Non-confidential waste paper from the House is sent for recycling under arrangements made by the Serjeant at Arms.

To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee what plans he has to install a large television screen in Westminster Hall for any future debates on disablement for those disabled wishing to attend such a debate to follow the proceedings; and if he will make a statement.

None. Although the Administration Committee is the appropriate body to initially consider a proposal of this kind, any extension of the arrangements whereby the use of Westminster Hall is permitted for lobbies of disabled people, and to provide access for those with disabilities attending mass lobbies, is ultimately a matter for the authorities which control the Hall.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will make provisions to enable the Minister Without Portfolio to answer oral questions about the matters for which he is responsible.

I have no plans to do so.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what public explanation was given by Ministers at the time that savings through insurance companies accumulated after a 25 per cent. tax charge when PEPs and TESSAs accumulated without tax.

The fundamentals of the current tax regime for life insurance predate PEPs and TESSAs by a long way. Life insurance companies are taxed year by year on the income and gains accruing for the benefit of their life insurance policyholders. The nominal tax rate is 25 per cent., the same as the basic rate. But a deduction is allowed for the expenses of managing the business, including the costs of commissions to intermediaries and other costs of acquiring business, so the true rate is somewhat less than 25 per cent. The aim is to tax saving through life insurance in the same way as other types of taxed savings.PEPs and TESSAs are much more recent innovations. Each was introduced to serve a particular need; PEPs to channel more investment into industry and TESSAs to encourage more people to take up the savings habit and to make the deposits of ordinary savers less liquid. A persuasive case has not been made out for altering the tax rules applying to save via life insurance following the introduction of PEPs and TESSAs.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

A total of 1,523.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many letters were sent to the hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

The information requested for January 1995 is as follows:

Minister	Number
Chancellor of the Exchequer	116
Chief Secretary	48
Financial Secretary	286
Paymaster General	656
Minister of State	205

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will publish figures comparing the income tax threshold for a single-wage married couple with their weekly supplementary benefit/income support allowances at each benefit uprating date since 1979, including April 1995 and also showing what the figures in April 1995 would be if the married couple's allowance has already been phased out.

[holding answer 9 February 1994]: The table shows the annualised supplementary benefit/income support scale rates and the annual income tax thresholds, during the period concerned. There is no logical relationship between the two: the tax threshold reflects allowances which are a mechanism to distribute the tax burden, while supplementary benefit/income support is a payment designed to provide a basic level of subsistence.The married couple's allowance has not been phased out, so no alternative figure for April 1995 is shown.

Married couple with one income1 and no children
Uprating dates	Supplementary Benefit/income Support annual rate £	Income Tax Threshold £
November 1979	1,554.40	1,815
November 1980	1,799.20	2,145
November 1981	1,963.00	2,145
November 1982	2,168.40	2,445
November 1983	2,262.00	2,795
November 1984	2,368.60	3,155
November 1985	2,488.20	3,455
July 1986	2,516.80	3,655
April 1987	2,566.20	3,795
April 1988	2,675.40	4,095
April 1989	2,849.60	4,375
April 1990	2,995.20	4,725
April 1991	3,237.00	5,015
April 1992	3,463.20	5,165
April 1993	3,588.00	5,165
April 1994	3,728.40	5,165
April 1995	3,796.00	4,815
1 Up to 1990 the assumption is that only the husband has earnings.

Income support replaced supplementary benefit in April 1988. The ordinary annual rate has been used for supplementary benefit and no premiums have been included under income support.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what instructions he has issued to non-executive members of boards of non-departmental public bodies and to the chief accounting officers of those bodies as to whether payment to such board members should be normally classified as self-employment or employment for tax purposes; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 21 February 1995]: No special instructions have been issued. In common with all individuals, the employment status for tax purposes of non-executive members of boards of non-departmental public bodies and chief accounting officers of those bodies depends on the facts of the case and is determined by applying general law to those facts. Such individuals would normally be regarded as office holders and chargeable to tax under schedule E on the emoluments of that office. Tax under PAYE should he deducted from such emoluments in the normal way.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 13 February, Official Report, columns 479–80, what advice he has received from the Council of Mortgage Lenders as to the likely effect of the proposed changes to income support towards mortgage repayments on the level of repossessions.

I have been asked to reply.The Council of Mortgage Lenders has advised that it expects the number of repossessions to increase as a result of the proposed changes. We are listening carefully to its concerns but believe that these proposals will result in the development of comprehensive quality insurance and will provide better protection for all home owners, not just those who currently get help from income support mortgage interest.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which of the contractors wishing to development opencast coal mining in Oxfordshire had submitted planning applications up to 31 December 1994.

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many bids under the single regeneration budget were received by his Department; and how much money is to be allocated.

Some 469 bids for support from the first bidding round of the single regeneration budget were received by my Department, of which 201 were successful. Those 201 bids are expected to receive, subject to satisfactory performance and the availability of resources, some £1.1 billion in SRB resources over their lifetime of up to seven years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the recommendations contained in the report of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution; and if he will list those recommendations he proposes to implement.

My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for the Environment, for Health and for Transport have welcomed the RCEP's report as a major contribution to our work in promoting sustainable development in the transport sector but have pointed out that we would need to look very carefully at the implications of its recommendations for individuals and the economy.We are currently considering the terms of the Government's response to the report and have sought a broad public debate on the issues raised. We shall consider all these points fully before making a response.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether under article 21 of the draft Avon (Structural Change) Order the county council will require the agreement of all transferee authorities affected in order to continue with consultation on preparation of any plans effected after 8 May.

No. However the county council will need to bear in mind that the duty to consult on plans relating to the exercise of county level functions after the reorganisation date will rest with the successor authorities and that all authorities will have the duty to co-operate.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will issue a statement setting out his intentions for the future of local government structure in the Goole area and the specific powers under the Local Government Act 1992 under which he proposes to implement these.

My right hon. Friend intends, under powers in section 131 of the Local Government Act 1992, to direct the Local Government Commission to undertake a review of the boundaries between Selby, Boothferry, Glanford and Doncaster districts with a view to considering a full range of options for the future of local government in Goole. Pending the results of that review the town of Goole, and rural Goole, will remain in that part of Boothferry district which will form part of the new East Riding unitary authority when that is established.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations his Department has received from local authorities for financial assistance to ensure that incineration installations are (a) safe and (b) comply with European Union regulations regarding emissions.

I am not aware of any such representations having been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of those accepted for fast-stream entry for which his Department is responsible (a) in 1991, (b) 1992, (c) in 1993 and (d) in 1994 were women.

The proportion of female fast-streamers accepted over the last four years for which my Department is responsible is as follows:

• 1991: 5 out of 9 (56 per cent.)
• 1992: 1 out of 8 (12.5 per cent.)
• 1993: 4 out of 8 (50 per cent.)
• 1994: 3 out of 7 (43 per cent.)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will estimate the volume and the proportion not recycled of (a) coal waste, (b) domestic waste and (c) nuclear waste.

The latest figures we have for coal waste are from Arup's report in 1991, "Occurrence and Utilisation of Mineral and Construction Wastes" which gives a figure of 45 million tonnes of annual arisings of colliery spoil of which around 94 per cent.—42.2 million tonnes—is not recycled.The consultation paper "A Waste Strategy for England and Wales" published earlier this year, gives a figure of some 20 million tonnes of household waste being produced annually, of which 90 per cent. is landfilled, 5 per cent. is recycled and 5 per cent. is incinerated.Information on radioactive waste produced in the United Kingdom can be found in the "UK Radioactive Waste Inventory 1991" which is in the Library. There is no separate figure for the proportion or volume of radioactive waste which is not recycled.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects to publish the Government's response to the Environment Committee's report, "Shopping Centres and their Future".

The Government's response is published today. Copies have been presented to the Chairman of the Environment Committee and placed in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

My Department's records show that 1,463 letters were received from hon. Members during the last month.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by Ministers in the Department.

My Department's records show that the number of letters sent by each Minister in the Department to the hon. Members during the last month, is as follows:

Minister	Number
Secretary of State	161
Lord Ullswater	64
Mr. Atkins	215
Mr. Curry	734
Sir P. Beresford	346
Mr. Jones	405

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the Department's study into the costs of implementing the European Commission's proposed revision of the bathing water directive has been completed; and if he will make a statement.

The consultants' cost study commissioned by the Department has now been completed. It shows the estimated costs of meeting the standards in the Commission's proposed revision of the bathing water directive and a number of other possible outcomes of the forthcoming negotiations. Any such expenditure would be in addition to the estimated costs of implementing the existing bathing water and the urban waste water treatment directives.Discussion of the Commission's proposal in the Community is still at the initial stages and the United Kingdom's cost study should help to inform future negotiations.Copies of the cost study will be placed in the House Libraries.

Site Type	Location	Pollutant	1992	1993	1994
Automatic monitoring	Bridge Place, Westminster	ozone	11 ppb	11 ppb	13 ppb
		nitrogen dioxide	39 ppb	34 ppb	35 ppb
		carbon monoxide	1.0 ppm	0.9 ppm	0.8 ppm
		sulphur dioxide	9 ppb	8 ppb	6 ppb
Non-automatic nitrogen dioxide diffusion tubes	Intercontinental Hotel, Park Lane	nitrogen dioxide	—	29 ppb	—
	North Westminster Community School, North Wharf Road	nitrogen dioxide	—	26 ppb	26 ppb
	33 Belgrave Gardens	nitrogen dioxide	—	17 ppb	21 ppb
	Drury Lane	nitrogen dioxide	—	—	24 ppb
Non-automatic smoke and sulphur dioxide monitoring*	Public Mortuary, Horseferry Road	sulphur dioxide	17 ug/m3	23 ug/m3	—
		smoke	13 ug/m3	13 ug/m3	—
* Monitoring undertaken in co-operation with local authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the level of financial support the Local Government Commission received in 1992–93, 1993–94 and 1994–95; and what is planned for 1995–96.

The Local Government Commission incurred expenditure of £2.056 million in 1992–93 and £5.146 million in 1993–94. We are making £8.3 million available to the Commission in 1994–95 and intend to make available £2.508 million in 1995–96.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the organisations that have (a) sent a submission and (b) indicated that they intend to send a submission for the rural White Paper; and if he will place copies of all such submissions in the Library.

A list of organisations from which my Department or that of my right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food had received written submissions by 20 February and which have not requested confidentiality has been placed in the House Library. A number of individuals have, in addition, submitted their views.Both Departments expect to receive a number of further submissions. The names of organisations making such submissions which do not request confidentiality will he made known after submissions have been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the nearest air pollution monitoring point to Parliament square; what was the level recorded at the latest date for which figures are available; what was the level one year previously; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 21 February 1995]: Annual average concentrations of pollutants measured at monitoring sites in the vicinity of Parliament square are presented in the table.Copies of submissions which we have not been asked to keep confidential will be made available for inspection in the departmental library in due course. In line with normal departmental practice, a list of those who have up to that point made such submissions will be placed in the House Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made of the extent to which there is sufficient production capacity within (a) the United Kingdom and (b) the European Union to meet demands for the production of sanitary ware and tiles.

Sanitary ware and tiles are items which are traded internationally. Decisions about production capacity and location are taken by industry on the basis of their own assessments of demand for their products.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assessment he has made of the compliance of the interest rate support offered by the Ministry of Defence since 1986–87 to the Jordan defence package with the OECD consensus arrangements for export support.

None. The consensus guidelines for export credit support do not apply to contracts involving military equipment.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the countries for which export licences were granted in respect of heading PL 5001 of the 1989 and 1994 Export of Goods (Control) Orders and the number of licences issued for such countries.

The following licences were issued from 1 January 1989 to date:

Country	Number of licences
Algeria	1
Argentina	1
Australia	1
Belgium	2
Bermuda	3
Brazil	1
Canada	1
Cyprus	1
Czech	1
Finland	1
France	7
Gambia	1
Ireland	2
Jamaica	1
Jordan	3
Macao	2
Malaysia	3
Malta	1
Mauritius	2
Mexico	1
Norway	1
Poland	2
Portugal	1
Saudi Arabia	3
Singapore	1
Solomon Islands	2
South Africa	1
Sri Lanka	2
Switzerland	1
USA	1
Zimbabwe	1

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many cable companies currently provide free feeds to educational institutions.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 21 February, Official Report, column 108.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

Some 987 letters were received by Ministers in the Department from hon. Members last month, of which 126 were eventually transferred to other Departments. A further 98 letters were redirected from other Departments to Ministers at DTI. In addition, 12 letters from hon. Members were received by chief executives of departmental agencies.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

In total, 711 letters were sent to hon. Members last month by Ministers in the Department, broken down as follows:

Minister	Number of letters sent to hon. Members
President of the Board of Trade	72
Minister for Small Firms and Consumer Affairs	84
Minister for Trade	40
Minister for Industry and Energy	73
PUSS for Corporate Affairs	132
PUSS for Industry and Energy	178
PUSS for Trade and Technology	132

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his oral answer of 15 February, Official Report, column 1004, what is the current state of the review into insider dealing, and when he intends to report on his findings to Parliament.

[holding answer 21 February 1995]: The hon. Member may have misunderstood my hon. Friend's reply to which he refers. My Department is reviewing the law on disclosure of interests in shares as part of a wider review of company law. The law on insider dealing is the responsibility of my right hon. and learned Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his oral answer of 8 February, Official Report, column 341, if he will list the lead employer, industry and trade association or organisations so far referred to him in respect of proposals for a single trade association.

I have made it very clear that I wish to encourage a process which leads to more powerful, better resourced and more effective trade associations. Many industrialists share this objective, and officials have been asked to consider with their industry and trade association contacts how best this can be achieved.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

There are 364 letters from hon. Members recorded on my Department's parliamentary correspondence database as having been received in January 1995.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what was the total cost to the legal aid fund of serious cases for each of the last five years.

The information is not readily available. For criminal legal aid in the Crown court and above it is not possible to identify either the prosecution agency or "serious fraud'' offences from information held centrally. However, it is possible to identify payments made in respect of final bills for the most serious types of fraud offences, namely fraud and false accounting, involving more lengthy trials. Expenditure in the higher criminal courts in respect of those offences, involving trials of 10 days or more, in each of the last five years was as follows:

	Expenditure £ million	As percentage of total criminal higher legal aid
1989–90	5.1	3.8
1990–91	8.9	5.7
1991–92	11.2	6.0
1992–93	20.3	9.2
1993–94	15.8	6.7

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what plans he has to make legal aid available, subject to eligibility restrictions, for defamation cases.

None.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what plans his Department has to publish family impact statements with all major policy announcements and new legislation to make clear their intended effect on the welfare of children and families.

There are no such plans. The intended effect of policy and legislative proposals is made clear in Government publications relating to the family, in particular in consultation papers and reports.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what part his Department plays in the Government's efforts to co-ordinate policy on the law relating to children and the family across different Ministries.

The Lord Chancellor's Department chairs, and provides the secretariat for, an inter-departmental working party, the family law and administration working party, which oversees work directed at improving family law and administration. In addition, the Lord Chancellor's Department participates in frequent consultation with other Departments about issues which touch upon the family.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what plans he has to make it the responsibility of the presiding judge, rather than the jury, to determine the level of damages for successful plaintiffs in defamation cases that go to trial.

None. However, we shall be introducing a new summary procedure, so that the judge will have power to dispose of straightforward claims summarily, instead of sending them to trial.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what plans he has to impose a limit on the level of damages that can be awarded in defamation cases other than those which are dealt with summarily.

None. However, since 1990, the Court of Appeal has had the power, when it finds that the amount of damages awarded by a jury was excessive, to substitute the amount which appears to the court to be proper.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how many complaints his Department has received from (a) members of the public, (b) members of the legal profession and (c) hon. Members about apparent conflicts of interest between the Lord Chancellor's three roles in each of the last five years.

A search of my departmental records has revealed no evidence of complaints about apparent conflicts of interest between the Lord Chancellor's three roles.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, how many complaints from (a) members of the public, (b) members of legal profession and (c) hon. Members his Department has received in each of the last 10 years with regard to the conduct of the judiciary in each different court level.

It is not possible to provide the information requested except at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, what was the total cost to the court system, excluding legal aid costs but including judicial costs, of prosecution for serious fraud in the most recent year for which figures are available.

The Department does not keep figures on the prosecution of serious fraud cases. The figures can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department, if he will make a statement on the timetable for hearing the case of Crossville Wales Ltd. v. Tracey in the Court of Appeal; if he will take steps to ensure that the case is heard without delay; and if he will make a statement.

The appeal hearing is due to take place at the Court of Appeal on 28 and 29 June 1995. My position as a Minister precludes me from intervening in individual cases; however, it is open to the parties' legal advisers to apply to the court for an expedited hearing date.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many changes there have been to statistics calculating the numbers unemployed since 1988; and if he will make a statement.

Like most developed countries the United Kingdom publishes both an administrative and a survey based measure of unemployment. In the United Kingdom the administrative source involves a count of people claiming unemployment-related benefits. The monthly claimant count is more frequent and more timely than the survey-based measure and also gives figures for very small areas. However, in common with other statistics based on administrative systems, the monthly claimant count has inevitably been subject to changes in coverage whenever there have been changes to the administrative procedures on which the statistics are based. These changes are taken into account in the consistent, seasonally adjusted series published by the Employment Department. The latter series allows consistent comparisons over time which are free from distortions and properly adjusted for seasonality.Since 1979 there have been nine changes to the coverage of the monthly unemployment count which have had a discernible effect on the figures, three of which have taken place since 1988.Details of these changes are given in an article in the December 1990 issue of

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many places are being provided on training schemes in the northern region in the current year by individual training and enterprise councils; and what was the overall number of Government-sponsored training places in 1978.

The following number of entrants into training are planned for 1994–95 in northern region:

TEC	Number
Tyneside	14,047
County Durham	9,073

TEC	Number
Sunderland City	6,505
Teeside	10,148
Northumberland	4,631
Total	44,404

Information which identifies the overall number of Government-sponsored training places in 1978 is not available at regional level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department which will (a) follow the pay arrangements of the sponsoring Department and (b) pursue an independent and separate route under the delegated pay option (i) from April 1995 and (ii) from April 1996.

The following decisions have been taken so far:

a) NDPBs that intend to follow the pay arrangements of the Employment Department:

• —Equal Opportunities Commission;
• —Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.

b) NDPBs that are pursuing independent arrangements under the delegated pay option:

• —Health and Safety Executive (from April 1995).

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) what recent representations he has received from the Health and Safety Commission and others concerning the Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969;(2) what plans he has to establish a review of the Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969; if the Trades Union Congress will be represented on the review committee; and if he will list the proposed membership of the committee;(3) if he will list the numbers and the names of those individuals and organisations who have made representations to him concerning the Employers Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969 who have

Following the decision of the United Kingdom insurance industry to cease providing unlimited cover for employers' liability insurance, I received a number of representations that some large industrial and commercial concerns would be unable to comply with the law as it stood from the beginning of this year. After consulting the Health and Safety Commission, I laid before the House amending regulations to ensure that all employers could comply with the law from 1 January 1995. I also announced on 22 December 1994 my intention to carry out a review of the legislation.I propose to issue a consultative document shortly seeking views on possible changes to this legislation. It is my intention to circulate this widely, so that all interested parties have the opportunity to put their views forward. The Trades Union Congress and HSC will be among those consulted. I will send a copy of the consultative document to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment (1) how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month;(2) how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

During January, the Department received 512 letters from hon. Members. In the same period, 448 ministerial replies were sent. Of these, 19 were answered by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, 107 by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Member for Cambridgeshire, South East (Mr. Paice) and 152 by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, the Member for Amber Valley (Mr. Oppenheim). I have answered 170 letters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment when Solotec will agree new contracts with the former providers of training services to South Thames training and enterprise council.

Solotec is currently drawing up its proposals to undertake training and enterprise council responsibilities in the boroughs of Greenwich and Lewisham. It is for Solotec to determine with which providers it wishes to contract to provide services in the two boroughs. The timing for the agreement of new contracts will depend upon the progress of negotiations between the parties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment what progress Wakefield training and enterprise council is making in meeting the criteria for the award of a three-year licence.

I am pleased to announce that Wakefield training and enterprise council has now completed the process of meeting the rigorous standard we set for the award of the new three-year licences. Its licence will be effective from April 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the statement made to the United States Congress House Appropriations Committee on 25 January by Frank Ruddy concerning the United Nations operation in Western Sahara; and if he will make a statement.

[pursuant to the reply 8 February, Official Report, column 281]: My Department has now seen a copy of the statement submitted by Mr. Frank Ruddy to the sub-committee of the Committee on Appropriations of the US House of Representatives. We understand that the UN has now sent a team to the Western Sahara to investigate the allegations made by Mr. Ruddy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is his policy towards the recommendation of the Assembly of Western European Union that the Council of the Western European Union should study the conditions in which the Council might meet as a European security and defence council, either as necessary or on the occasion of meetings of the European Council; and if he will make a statement.

This recommendation is under consideration by the Permanent Council of the Western European Union, which will evaluate the desirability of holding a WEU meeting at summit level.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what action has been taken in response to recommendation 538 of the Assembly of Western European Union on security in the Mediterranean; and if he will make a statement.

The WEU Council has set out its views on this issue in its response to recommendation 565 of the Assembly.The Council has also considered and endorsed relevant elements of work done in the CFSP framework on the implications for European security of the situation in neighbouring regions including the Mediterranean.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans there are for the participation of the Wastern European Union in missions of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe; and if he will make a statement.

Military units of WEU member states, acting under the authority of the WEU, can be employed for humanitarian and rescue tasks, as the WEU Council of Ministers decided in its Petersburg declaration of June 1992. The Council of Ministers also declared the WEU's willingness to consider any requests for assistance from the OSCE, then CSCE on a case-by-case basis. The OSCE has, as yet, made no formal requests.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to support the establishment of a multinational European humanitarian intervention force under the auspices of the Western European Union; and if he will make a statement.

It is one of the roles of the WEU to provide for a European instrument of reaction in cases where, due to the dimension or urgency of a humanitarian crisis or the need for military protection, military rather than civilian means must be employed.United Kingdom forces would be provided on a case-by-case basis, rather than committing ourselves to a standing intervention force which might not be tailored to the requirements of a specific humanitarian crisis.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made by the Permanent Council of the Western European Union in taking forward the commitment gradually to develop the Western European Union Institute for Security Studies into a European Security and Defence Academy; and if he will make a statement.

At its meeting on 11 November 1994 in Noordwijk the WEU Council of Ministers reiterated its commitment gradually to develop the Institute for Security Studies into a European Security and Defence Academy and requested the Permanent Council to take this matter forward as a priority.Details of the proposal were presented to the Permanent Council of the WEU by the director of the institute at its meetings of 24 January and 7 February 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will press the European Community to play a more positive role in pressing the Indonesian authorities to ensure human rights.

We are in regular contact with our European Union partners about the human rights situation in Indonesia and East Timor and, where appropriate, make known our concerns directly to the Indonesian Government and in such bodies as the UN Commission on Human Rights.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will urge President Suharto to repeal the anti-subversion law.

The repeal of the anti-subversion law is one of the recommendations of the UN special rapporteur on torture. The UN Commission on Human Rights, of which the United Kingdom is a member, has called repeatedly on the Indonesian Government to take the necessary steps to implement these recommendations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what position the United Kingdom Government are taking up over the proper extent of Moroccan territorial water to be included in the EU-Morocco fishing agreement; and if he will make it his policy that no disputed territorial waters will be so included.

As with all EC fisheries agreements, the waters under the sovereignty or jurisdiction of Morocco will not be defined. The United Kingdom Government do not consider the renegotiation of the EC-Morocco fisheries agreement the appropriate place to address the issue of the sovereignty of the former Spanish Sahara.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps Her Majesty's Government are taking to ensure a successful conclusion to the conference of state parties to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty opening in April; and if he will make a statement.

Our aim at the nuclear non-proliferation treaty review and extension conference is to secure the treaty's indefinite and unconditional extension by a substantial majority. We are lobbying at ministerial and official levels, both bilaterally and as part of an EU joint action, to achieve this aim.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of those accepted for fast stream entry for which his Department is responsible (a) in 1991, (b) 1992, (c) in 1993 and (d) in 1994 were women.

The percentage of women accepted for fast stream entry to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Overseas Development Administration in each of the last four years was:

• 1991: 29.2 per cent.
• 1992: 26.1 per cent.
• 1993: 19.2 per cent.
• 1994: 30.8 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by his Department which will (a) follow the pay arrangements of the sponsoring Department and (b) pursue an independent and separate route under the delegated pay option (i) from April 1995 and (ii) from April 1996.

The British Council is developing proposals for separate pay arrangements from April 1996.We expect the following NDPBs to follow the FCO's pay arrangements in April 1996:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what United Nations reports the Government have received about the supply of products to the Iraqi plant at Ad Dwar and Salman Pak by United Kingdom-based companies or their subsidiaries over the last five years; if he will name those companies and what they supplied; what prior knowledge or approval was given by Her Majesty's Government; and what measures he proposes to take in this matter.

It is not our practice to comment in detail on information given to us by the UN Special Commission on companies which have traded with Iraq. Any information about potential offences will be investigated and, if substantiated, will be a matter for the courts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month.

During January 1995 the Foreign and Commonwealth Office received 1,502 letters from hon. Members.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

Ministers in the Department sent the following numbers of letters to hon. Members last month:

Minister	Number
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs	65
Minister of State for Overseas Development	196
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Hogg)	254
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Davis)	93
Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Goodlad)	134
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Baldry)	202

The correspondence unit of the migration and visa department answered 503 letters from hon. Members. Forty-three letters from hon. Members were sent to other Government Ministers for reply, and 50 are still receiving attention.

To ask the Attorney-General (1) how many letters were received in the Department from hon. Members last month;(2) how many letters were sent to hon. Members last month by each Minister in the Department.

Sixty-one letters were received from and 50 letters were sent to hon. Members in January. Of the 50 letters sent to hon. Members 17 were written by the Attorney-General and one by the Solicitor-General. The remaining 32 letters were sent by the private office informing hon. Members that their letters were being transferred.

To ask the Attorney-General what has been the cost of running the Serious Fraud Office for each year since its establishment, and what is the projected cost for the next financial year.

The SFO became operational in April 1988. Running costs are most readily ascertainable by reference to financial years ending 31 March. The cost of running the Serious Fraud Office is given in the table. The provision for 1995–96 will be published in the departmental report for the Lord Chancellor's and Law Officers' Departments, which is expected to be presented to Parliament on or about 7 March 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many applications for assessments by occupational therapists in respect of housing adaptations were made during the years from 1 April 1989 to 31 March 1994 in the Eastern and Southern health boards; of these how many were (a) processed (b) approved for adaptation and (c) rejected.

Information on the total number of applications for assessment by occupational therapists for housing adaptations is not collected centrally.Since 1 April 1993 information has been collected centrally only in respect of referrals to occupational therapists from the Northern Ireland Housing Executive. Some 2,263 such referrals were made to the Eastern and Southern health boards in the year ended 31 March 1994 and 1,512 assessments were completed.Information on the outcome of these assessments is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list those zoos which are owned by local authorities.

There are five zoos in Northern Ireland which are owned by district councils. These are:-

• Belfast zoo—Belfast city council
• Ward park, Bangor—Bangor borough council
• Craigavon leisure centre—Craigavon borough council
• Exploris sealife centre, Portaferry—Newtownards borough council
• Pinebank community centre, Craigavon—Craigavon borough council

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what proportion of those accepted for fast-stream entry for which his Department is responsible (a) in 1991, (b) in 1992, (c) in 1993 and (d) in 1994 were women.

The proportion of fast stream entrants to the Northern Ireland Departments and the Northern Ireland Office who were women is as follows:

• 1991: 33 per cent.
• 1992: 20 per cent.
• 1993: 14 per cent.
• 1994: 50 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many clients have been admitted by each residential and nursing home in (a) the Armagh and Dungannon and (b) the Newry and Mourne units of management since 30 September 1993.

[holding answer 20 February 1995]: The information requested is set out in the following tables. The figures do not include those people who have made their own arrangements to enter homes and pay for their care or admissions by trusts/units of management in other board areas.

Persons admitted to residential/nursing home care from 30 September 1993 to 17 February 1995
Armagh and Dungannon Unit of Management
Private nursing homes	Number of admissions1
Armagh PNH (Sandown)	15
Castledillon	34
Castlemanor	5
Chestnut Lodge	15
Collegelands	6
Copperfields	7
Corkhill Lodge	13
Dungannon PNH (Sandown)	3
Fairlawns	29
Glenview	18
Greenpark	35
The Haven	6
Hockley Lodge	15
Manor Court	50
Nightingale	31
Rathowen	2
The Retreat	14
Sanville	4
The Valley	19
Total	321
Residential Homes
Benvinda	1
Glenview	18
Hebron House	1
Monique	2
Roughan House	2
Sunnymead	7
Total	31

Newry and Mourne HSS Trust
Private Nursing Homes	Number of Admissions1
Ardmaine	16
Arnosvale	12
Avila	12
Cairnhill	1
Coolbawn	16
Glencarron	11
Kilbroney House	19
Lisnaaran	32
Our Mother of Mercy	2
Rathfriland Manor	8

Newry and Mourne HSS Trust
Private Nursing Homes	Number of Admissions1
Rockfield	19
St. John of God	40
St. Joseph's	4
Total	192
Residential Homes
Glencarron	1
Kilbroney House	3
Moneydarragh Lodge	3
Mountain House	1
Our Mother of Mercy	12
Peacehaven	3
St. Joseph's	16
Sennen House	5
Total	44
1 Figures include both permanent and temporary admissions.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage, pursuant to his answer of 7 February, Official Report, column 161, what considerations underlay his Department's decision to disclose the fee paid to the firm Lowe Bell Communications in respect of its organisation of the programme of events to mark the 50th anniversary of D-Day in its release of 24 January 1994.