To ask the Lord President of the Council what changes are proposed to the Privy Council Office cash and running cost limit in 1994–95.

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class XIX, vote 3 will be increased from £2,377,000 to £2,767,000. There is no change to the running cost limit. This change reflects the cost of the central drugs co-ordination unit for the current financial year and results from the correction of a fault in the vote structure. There is therefore no addition to the planned limit on public expenditure.

To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how often his Department receives written evaluation reports on the training and financial performance of training and enterprise councils.

The Employment Department commissions a range of evaluation projects on aspects of the delivery of training by training and enterprise councils. The work is commissioned on a continuing basis and the written reports are received at various times throughout the year. Details of completed work appear in the Department's annual report on research. The Department does not receive written evaluation reports on the financial performance of TECs.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement about the Government's review of the Building Societies Act 1986.

The Government have now completed the second and final stage of their review of the Building Societies Act 1986. A consultation document was issued last autumn, seeking views, in particular, on societies' accountability and powers. The Government are grateful to those organisations and individuals—some 72 in all—who responded. Their comments have helped to shape the outcome of the review. The Government have also taken careful note of the report on the building society sector, published by the Treasury and Civil Service Select Committee on 19 December. The outcome of the review is broadly in line with many of the Committee's conclusions.The Government place great importance on the role of building societies as a safe haven for people's savings and the major source of housing finance in the United Kingdom. At the forefront of our minds has been the objective of creating more competition and accountability in the provision of retail financial services. In drawing conclusions from the review, we have sought to:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the latest estimated level of uncollected (a) corporation tax, (b) schedule D tax and (c) capital gains tax for each year since 1979 in 1994 prices; and what these amounts represent as a percentage of total tax payable in each category.

The board of the Inland Revenue allows individual remissions of tax as an aspect of their responsibilities for the "care and management" of the direct taxes under section 1(1) of the Taxes Management Act 1970.Sound management requires that tax which is not collected and which cannot practicably be collected—for example, because the taxpayer is insolvent or his whereabouts are unknown—should be written off. Similarly, it is on occasions necessary to remit tax which it would be unconscionable to collect—for example, because the payment would cause gross hardship to the taxpayer.The level of remissions fell for account 93 and is expected to fall again in 1994.(a) The amounts of corporation tax uncollected and consequently remitted or written off as irrecoverable since 1979 are as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many VAT-registered companies are currently trading in northern England; and what was the figure in 1978.

Based on the latest available information, the number of VAT-registered companies currently trading in northern England, and those trading in 1978, is as follows:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the total installed base of video, pinball and amusements with prizes machines; and what are the numbers of those machines which will be liable to duty if the play price duty exemption is fixed at (a) 20p, (b) 30p, (c) 40p and (d) 50p.

[holding answer 20 February 1995]: The total numbers of installed machines are as follows: 75,000 video, 30,000 pinball and 20,000 skill with prizes machines. There are about 205,000 amusement with prizes machines. It is not possible to predict the numbers of machines which would be liable to duty at the stated play prices. It would be a matter for individual operators to take advantage of any exemption in the light of the licence cost measured against the income from the machine.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the current political balance of magistrates in each municipal borough in South Yorkshire.

The political balance of magistrates in Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield, on the latest information available, is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is the purpose of levying a fee on new vehicle registrations which are not notified to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency under the automated first registration scheme; what agency or Government Department will be the recipient of the fee; and what the fee will be.

The automated first registration and licensing system is designed to enable motor dealers to register and license new vehicles without leaving their premises, saving costs and improving service to customers.The purpose of the fee would be to charge for first registrations where the automated first registration system was available to manufacturers and importers but they chose not to adopt it.The provision has not yet been activated and no fee level has been set. If it is introduced, the fee would be set at a level to offset the additional cost of any manual system which had to be provided.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what measures he intends to introduce to ensure that vendors of vehicles, with particular reference to secondhand vehicles, are given correct and full details of the buyer's name and address in connection with the proposed move to joint notification.

A consultation paper on the proposed new vehicle registration system will be issued shortly. It will specifically invite views on how best to ensure the accuracy of the information provided by buyers and sellers of vehicles. Decisions will be taken in the light of the comments received.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about future plans for regulating taxis and private hire vehicles.

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes, North-East (Mr. Butler) on 22 February, Official Report, column 189.

To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee (1) when he expects the parliamentary data and video network to be available to all hon. Members; and how much this would cost;(2) what are the annual running costs for the parliamentary data and video network.

By the end of the 1995 summer recess, it is expected that some 550 hon. Members, including all hon. Members with offices in the outbuildings will have access to the video service, which includes the clean feed of proceedings of the House. Because the installation of cabling and trunking on the parliamentary estate is a complex exercise which can only be undertaken during summer recesses, full cabling of all Members' offices is not expected to be completed until the end of 1997. Hon. Members who wish to have access to the network and who have offices in areas of the parliamentary estate which have not yet been cabled may do so by means of a modem. On the matter of costs, I would refer the hon. Gentleman to the first report from the Information Committee in Session 1993–94 on "The Provision of a Parliamentary Data and Video Network"—House of Commons Paper No. HC237—which was approved by the House on 30 June 1994.

To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee what is the size of the budget available to the House for the provision of computer technology to its hon. Members.

Members may use the office costs allowance to fund their individual use of computer technology. On 30 June 1994 the House approved a report from the Committee—first report "The Provision of Members' Information Technology Equipment, Software and Services", Session 1992–93, HC737—which proposed a modest range of supporting IT services to be available to Members from the next general election, the costs of which will be paid for by Members from their office costs allowance. Special provision can be made for computer equipment for Members with disabilities.

To ask the Chairman of the Information Committee (1) what is his estimate of the date by which hon. Members will be able to access the Internet through the PDVN;

Subject to endorsement by the Finance and Services Committee, it is hoped that hon. Members connected to the parliamentary data and video network and who request it, will be able to access the Internet on an experimental basis from May. A fixed charge line connection to the Internet is planned and access via this link would not be charged to individual Members. The expenditure issue is not yet fully resolved and I shall write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy that 20 per cent. of aid is to be allocated to priory needs for human development.

The purpose of the British aid programme is to help people in countries poorer than our own to improve their lives. To that end, we have established seven priority objectives, one of which is to promote human development. We do not favour setting spending targets for individual objectives for this can reduce the quality of activities undertaken and because the objectives are mutually supporting.A substantial proportion of our bilateral aid is devoted to basic needs such as education, health care, clean water and safe sanitation. In 1993–94, 15 per cent.—£147 million—of the bilateral aid programme, excluding emergency relief, was spent in these areas. If emergency relief, most of which was used to meet basic needs in crisis situations, is included, the figure rises to 28 per cent.—£321 million. These figures are conservative since they omit expenditure in support of volunteers and that under the pound for pound scheme for non-governmental organisations—other than block grants—which is not categorised by objective in ODA statistics.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will support proposals at the world summit on social development that seek immediate implementation of the Trinidad terms proposal to reduce by two thirds the eligible debt stock of severely indebted low-income countries as a first step towards a comprehensive write-off of between 80 per cent. and 100 per cent. of the debt stock of those countries.

[holding answer 23 February 1995]: Implementation of Trinidad terms was agreed by the Paris Club in principle in December 1994. We pressed for an increase from 50 per cent. up to 80 per cent. debt reduction, but there was no consensus among other creditors to go beyond 67 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will support proposals at the world summit on social development that require structural adjustment programmes to have social development goals.

[holding answer 23 February 1995]: We will continue to stress the need for economic reform programmes to take full account of the social dimensions of development in their design and implementation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will be supporting objectives at the world summit for social development that would require international financial institutions to promote macro-economic policies that put the alleviation of poverty as a central objective.

[holding answer 23 February 1995]: The primary objective of the World bank and other multilateral development banks is to assist borrowing member countries in their efforts to alleviate poverty and to promote sustainable economic development.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many former local authority tenants have purchased their homes under the right-to-buy legislation in the northern region of England and in each local authority in the northern region.

Between October 1980 and September 1994 an estimated 116,000 local authority tenants purchased their homes in the north statistical region under the right-to-buy legislation.A table showing information on total right-to-buy sales for each local authority in England from 1980 to March 1994 is available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new homes were built in the northern region of England by (a) private sector, (b) housing associations and (c) local authorities, by individual local authority (i) since 1979 and (ii) between 1974 and 1978.

Tables have been deposited in the Library showing cumulative totals of house building completions, by sector, for each local authority in the north standard statistical region. The first table shows activity for the period 1974 to 1978, the second shows activity between 1979 and 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list those instances in 1994 where permission to burn cemfuel was refused.

Only two plants, Castle Cement at Clitheroe and Barrington, use cemfuel. Limited trials have taken place at these sites. There has been no other formal application to burn cemfuel.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received concerning the use of cemfuel by Castle Cement at Clitheroe.

During the last two years, a number of representations have been received both from those who oppose and those who support the use of cemfuel. In addition, Members of Parliament have asked questions in the House, in particular the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Mr. Evans).In February 1995, Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution started a public consultation exercise to precede any decision whether to allow continued burning of this fuel at Clitheroe. This consultation period will last until 29 March.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what estimates he has made of the amount of cemfuel burnt (a) in England and (b) in Lancashire in 1994.

The total estimated quantity of cemfuel used in England in 1994 was 4,700 tonnes, of which 3,400 was used in Lancashire.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what contact his Department has had with the European Commission over the grant of planning permission for a chicken farm at Throckmorton in Worcestershire.

The Commission wrote to the United Kingdom Government concerning the application of the directive 85/337/EEC—"the EIA directive"—to this proposal on 19 February 1992 and again on 12 July 1993. On both occasions, the Government replied to the letters. No further communication has been received.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what assessment he has made in calculating the standard spending assessment of the extra costs placed upon local authorities by the implementation of the habitual residence test; and how much he estimates local authorities will save in housing benefit and council tax benefits as a result of the test.

The local government finance settlement takes account of all new burdens on local authorities, together with other service pressures and the potential for increased efficiency and other savings as well as, more broadly, what the country can afford. Housing benefit and council tax benefit savings resulting from the implementation of the habitual residence test are estimated to be about £4 million in a full year. These benefit savings accrue mainly to the Department of Social Security; there will be a small reduction in that part of the cost of benefit which falls on local authorities and this was taken into account in the settlement for 1994–95.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what plans he has regarding grants to homeless voluntary organisations under section 73 of the Housing Act 1975; and if he will make a statement.

My Department has completed its review of the section 73 grant programme. This incorporated the findings of research by York university, which was commissioned to assess the programme's effectiveness and consider its possible future direction. York found that the programme has been successful in providing assistance to a large number of single people. This confirms my own conclusions that the programme represents good value for money. I am pleased to announce that I have decided that the grant programme should continue.The Government are to make £6.9 million available in 1995–96. In addition to the applications for funding we have received from existing projects, we anticipate bids to start new schemes in 1995–96. These grants will assist voluntary organisations around the country to meet the running costs of schemes which provide practical help for single people in need of accommodation. They will also enable Shelter, SHAC—the London housing aid centre—and the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux to maintain and develop the national homelessness advice service.

To aks the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish the most recent data evaluated by his Department on dioxin emissions from all sources.

[holding answer 21 February 1995]: Her Majesty's inspectorate of pollution will be publishing a report this spring which will detail the most recent estimates of dioxin emissions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many changes there have been to benefit law since 1988 which relate to the qualification for benefit, age of qualification, disqualification rules and other changes related to periods of entitlement.

There have been over 100 changes which have affected entitlement to benefit since 1988. A list of these changes has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, up to what date Mr. Harold Fair will be entitled to payment of incapacity benefit; from what date he will be entitled to an old age pension; to what benefit he will be entitled in the intervening period; and if he will make a statement on the consideration underlying the interval in payment of contributory benefits.

Entitlement to incapacity benefit will cease on 1 June 1995, the day before Mr. Fair's 65th birthday. Retirement pension will be payable from the first pension payday, on 5 June 1995. Additionally, he is entitled to disability living allowance which remains unchanged. Retirement pension is paid weekly, on Mondays, and is not paid for odd days. However, because it is paid in advance and incapacity benefit is paid in arrears, the first pension payment will be received within one week of the final payment of incapacity benefit.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security when he next intends to meet with representatives of the House Builders Federation to discuss his proposed changes to the arrangements for income support for mortgage interest payments.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security has a meeting arranged with the House Builders Federation on Monday 6 March.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 10 February, Official Report, columns 433–35, if he will publish the calculations of his Department on the number of claimants who lost (a) unemployment benefit, (b) sickness benefit or (c) retirement pension as a result of the changes in the contributory conditions since 1975.

[holding answer to February 1995:] The change in the unemployment and sickness benefit contribution conditions in 1975 were the result of the restructuring of the national insurance scheme so that wholly earnings-related contributions were collected along with income tax under the pay-as-you-earn procedures. It is unlikely that anyone lost benefit as a consequence.As a result of the abolition of reduced rates of unemployment benefit in October 1986 it was calculated that about 28,000 unemployed people would lose benefit in a full year. Some 10,000 sickness benefit claimants were affected, although a large proportion of these received supplementary benefit. Existing benefit recipients were transitionally protected.At the time of the changes to the contribution conditions in 1988, it was estimated that 350,000 people would no longer qualify for unemployment benefit in a full year. Of those, about 300,000 would qualify for income support or for increased income support. It was estimated that about 8,000 people would not qualify for sickness benefit in a full year, and of those about 90 per cent. would qualify for income support. Those in receipt of benefit at the point of change received transitional protection.

To ask the Prime Minister what plans he has to raise the question of Indonesia's illegal occupation of East Timor at future meetings of the Group of Seven.

None.

To ask the Prime Minister if Lord Justice Scott's inquiry has now finished taking new evidence or information; if interview sessions have now ceased; and on what date the last interview was held.

The last public hearing of Sir Richard Scott's inquiry was held on 7 July 1994, while the last evidence taken in private was on 14 February 1995. Sir Richard Scott has made it clear that, as he compiles his report and as the need arises, he will seek further evidence or information.

To ask the Prime Minister what have been the results of his "back to basics" campaign.

The hon. Member has misunderstood. "Back to basics" is a principle based on the common-sense values of the British people—in particular, individual responsibility.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what action she has taken or plans to take to ensure that day surgery is undertaken only by surgeons fully trained to do so.

We have no such plans. It is for individual provider hospitals to ensure high standards of practice for all patients and for purchasing authorities to ensure their populations have access to high-quality care. Surgeons carrying out day surgery should be experienced in the practice and junior trainees should be closely supervised by experienced staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what were the costs of NHS financial services at (a) regional health authorities, (b) district health authorities and (c) family health services authorities in 1989–90; and what were the costs of such services at (i) regional health authorities, (ii) district health authorities, (iii) family health services authorities and (iv) NHS trusts in 1993–94.

Figures for regional and district health authorities are shown in the table. Costs of national health service financial services are not available for family health services authorities or NHS trusts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps she has taken to notify former part-time NHS employees of the decision of 4 March in the House of Lords;(2) what financial provision she has made to meet claims for compensation from former part-time NHS employees following the decision of 4 March in the House of Lords;(3) what guidance she has issued to employers within the NHS in respect of claims for compensation from former part-time NHS employees following the decision of 4 March in the House of Lords;(4) what estimate she has made of the number of former part-time NHS employees who have ceased employment during the last 16 years who are potentially affected by the decision of 4 March in the House of Lords.

The "decision of 4 March in the House of Lords" is taken to mean the decision by the Judicial Committee of the House of Lords on 3 March 1994 in R. v. Secretary of State for Employment ex parte Equal Opportunities Commission and another.Employment issues affecting individual employees, such as claims for redundancy payments are the responsibility of health authorities and national health service trusts as autonomous employers.It is not possible, from the information available centrally, to estimate the number of former part-time employees who may be affected by the House of Lords' judgment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is her Department's latest estimate of the total level of public expenditure on child care for children under the age of five years; what this sum is per child under the age of five years; what this sum is as a percentage of gross domestic product; and what this sum is as a percentage of public expenditure.

The information is not available in the form requested.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her 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.

According to current plans, the non-departmental public bodies sponsored by the Department which will introduce new pay arrangements are as shown:

• Department of Health
• National Radiological Protection board—operative date as yet to be decided.
• From April 1995:
• None
• From April 1996
• None
• Delegated pay option
• From April 1995:
• Central Council for Education and Training in Social Work.
• Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
• From April 1996:
• None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what positive results have arisen from the programme of breast screening.

Between 1988 and 1993, 3,246,174 women have been screened and 19,667 breast cancers detected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the role of primary care in developing the NHS and purchasing.

Guidance issued by the Department EL(94)79, developing NHS purchasing and GP fundholding, sets out our policy for involving primary care practitioners more closely in national health service purchasing. In particular, this will be through the extended options for general practitioner fundholding and the development of stronger partnerships between health authorities and primary health care teams. Copies of the guidance are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the five health areas in England which had the highest annual figures for (a) birth rates, (b) new cases of tuberculosis, (c) the incidence of pregnancies in women aged under 20 years, (d) the incidence of HIV-AIDS and (e) perinatal mortality rates; and what are the average figures for England in each category in the last year for which figures are available.

The information is shown in the tables.(a) The five regional health authorities with the highest crude birth rates in 1993 were:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many accident and emergency departments have been relocated in England in 1995; and what were the corresponding figures in each year since 1986.

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of breast cancer have been diagnosed in the NHS for each year since 1990 for women aged (a) 21 to 30, (b) 31 to 40, (c) 41 to 50, (d) 51 to 60, (e) 61 years and older and (f) all women.

The latest available figures can be found in the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys publication MB 1 No. 22 "Cancer statistics, England and Wales 1989", copies of which are available in the Library.The statistics do not distinguish whether or not the diagnosis was made in the national health service.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many medical staff are currently employed in the NHS; and what was the figure in 1979.

The figures are shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, when she intends to publish or place in the Library the follow-up report by Dr. John Yates on the closure of psychiatric hospitals and beds for the mentally ill.

The report of the 1994 survey of the remaining large mental illness hospitals in England, commissioned by the mental health task force, is to be submitted to Ministers shortly. A decision will then be taken on its publication.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what provisions are currently made by the Prescription Pricing Authority in respect of dispensing doctors who receive substantial reductions from their suppliers concerning their value added tax reimbursements;(2) what research her Department

The terms on which general practitioners are reimbursed for the cost of drugs which they have dispensed or personally administered to patients, are set out in paragraph 44 of the "Statement of Fees and Allowances Payable to General Medical Practitioners in England and Wales", copies of which are available in the Library. An independent confidential inquiry was conducted jointly by the British Medical Association and the health Departments of England, Scotland and Wales in 1993 into the rates of discount obtained by dispensing doctors on their purchases of drugs and appliances. A new discount rate is to be introduced in England and Wales from 1 April 1995 for calculating the level of doctors' reimbursement. The level of value added tax reimbursement is based on the discount rate. The profession as a whole receives only the level of expenses actually incurred in providing general medical services.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what evaluation she has commissioned of the advantages and disadvantages of having an independent steriliser testing service carried out by (a) private sector and (b) public sector agencies; what proposals she has to publish a report of her evaluation; and if she will make a statement.

The Department has not commissioned an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of independent steriliser testing by the private sector and the public sector, but we are aware of the continuing need for competent personnel to carry out this work.In order to ensure this, the Department has established, under the auspices of the Institute of Hospital Engineering, a register of steriliser engineers. To become registered, it will be necessary to acquire appropriate professional skills and experience. The Department will monitor closely the effectiveness of the scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many abortions have now been performed in total under the provisions of the Abortion Act 1967; and how many and what percentage of those abortions were performed in an emergency to save the life the mother.

[holding answer 17 February 1995]: Up to 31 December 1992, a total of 3,911,680 abortions had been performed in Great Britain under the Abortion Act 1967, as amended by section 37 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, since its implementation. Of these, the number performed in emergency and certified by the operating practitioner as immediately necessary to "save the life of the pregnant woman"—ground 5 prior to April 1991, ground F subsequently—was 154, or 0.004 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many (a) fatal and (b) non-fatal accidents have occurred on the A947 in each year since 1985.

The information requested is given in the table. Information on non-injury accidents is not held centrally.

Number of reported injury accidents on or at a junction with the

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department on how many occasions the United Kingdom has been criticised by the Council of Europe for failure to comply to the minimum standards laid out in the European prison rules; on what factors non-compliance was identified; and if he will make a statement on the steps he is taking to ensure compliance in future.

The European prison rules are not binding on signatory states and consequently there has been no criticism of the Prison Service in England and Wales by the Council of Europe for failure to comply with its terms.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how may drug and related finds by type of drug were made in gaols in England and Wales in each year since 1990.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he will be making to the Audit Commission report on the fire service; and if he will make a statement.

The Government shall be asking the local authority associations and individual fire brigades to give urgent consideration to the recommendations which fall to them to take forward. Where the recommendations affect Government responsibilities, we shall ensure that they are considered either by the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council or in conjunction with the other Government Departments concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average length of time families of victims have to wait for an inquest;(2) what is the average number of hours worked weekly by coroners.

I regret that this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what services victims' families can receive from coroners courts.

Coroners are appointed by local authorities to investigate sudden and unexplained deaths in the general interest of the community. The provision of coroners courts is a local authority responsibility, but the Home Office publishes a free explanatory leaflet, "The Work of the Coroner", which coroners are encouraged to make widely available and which describes the responsibilities of the coroner and offers guidance to those who may be involved in an inquest. I am placing a copy in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the effect of the November 1993 statement on the budget of Greater Manchester probation service;(2) what will be the effect of the 1994 probation budget reduction on staffing levels within each grade of staff; and what assessment he has made of the likelihood of redundancies within each grade of staff in the Greater Manchester probation service;(3) what assessment he has made of the effect of the 1994 probation budget reduction on the implementation of national standards for the supervision of offenders in the Greater Manchester probation service;(4) what assessment he has made of the effect of the 1994 probation budget cut on staff terms and conditions of service in the Greater Manchester probation service;(5) what will be the effect of the November 1994 Budget statement on the Greater Manchester probation service;(6) what assessment he has made of the effect of the 19945 probation budget reduction on liaison with victim support and work with victims in the Greater Manchester probation service;(7) what reduction in hostel provision will result from the 1994 budget reduction to the Greater Manchester probation service;(8) what reduction in probation centre provision will result from the 1994 budget reduction to the Greater Manchester probation service.

The 1993 Budget statement resulted in a specific grant cash limit for 1994–95 for the Greater Manchester probation service of £18.9 million, 6.3 per cent. higher than for 1993–94. The 1994 Budget statement resulted in a specific grant cash limit for 1995–96 of £18.8 million, plus a further £900,000 to support probation service partnerships with the independent sector previously funded separately by the Home Office.It is for the Greater Manchester probation service to decide how these resources are best used and to determine what specific changes within the service, including staffing levels, should he undertaken with the total expenditure limit implied by this level of grant support and within the terms and conditions of service of probation officers as determined by the Home Secretary.Grant support should be sufficient to enable the Greater Manchester service to carry out its responsibilities in relation to the enforcement of national standards and working with victims.Approved hostels are separately funded by the Home Office; and no changes in hostel provision in the Greater Manchester area are planned as a result of the last Budget.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his policy towards a prisoner at Her Majesty's prison, Sudbury, serving eight years for major fraud being granted home or temporary leave after serving 12 months of his sentence.

[holding answer 13 February 1995]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he is taking with ministerial colleagues within the Europe Union to provide for EU nationals, and those ordinarily resident in EU states, who are convicted of certain offences to serve their sentences in their own state.

[holding answer 23 February 1995]: Under the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons, a prisoner sentenced to imprisonment in one jurisdiction may be repatriated to the jurisdiction of which they are a national to serve their sentence. The United Kingdom ratified the convention in 1985. We have been joined in the convention by all but one of our partners in the European Union with which prisoner repatriations are conducted regularly.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his Department's approach to the balance between the policyholders' and shareholders' interests in the long-term funds of life insurance companies.

A number of with-profit life offices have accumulated amounts within their long-term funds whose allocation between the shareholders and policyholders may not be clearcut; and there has been a growing interest among relevant companies in the scope for clarifying shareholders' interest in the long-term fund.The Department is in principle in favour of greater clarity in the attribution of the long-term funds of proprietary insurance companies. In any such attribution, it has a responsibility to ensure that the reasonable expectations of policyholders are fulfilled.The Department considers that policyholders' reasonable expectations in respect of attribution of surplus are influenced by a range of factors, notably:

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he expects to consider specific proposals stemming from the Commission's document "Europe's way to the information society", No. 15486.

The European Commission has already brought forward a number of proposals listed in the annexe to its communication "Europe's way to the information society"— COM(94)347 final. These are being considered closely by Government, and some are already under discussion in Brussels. I would expect the Commission to bring forward further proposals over the next 12 months, in line with the timetable set out in the annexe.The UK has played a major role in co-ordinating two projects: global interoperability for broadband networks, building on the success of Super JANET; and government on-line, developing the CCTA's ideas for electronic communication within government.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what different forms of scrutiny by the United Kingdom Parliament will apply to the European Commission document 15486, "Europe's way to the information society".

The Commission communication in response to the Bangemann group report, "Europe's way to the information society: an action plan" was a depositable document and fell within scrutiny arrangements. I submitted a full explanatory memorandum to Parliament on 29 September 1994 and the document was scrutinised according to agreed procedures.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) when he expects to present to Parliament the official text of part II of the European Green Paper on telecommunication liberalisation.(2) when he expects to produce the explanatory memorandum from the Government on the implications of the European Commission Green Paper, part II of telecommunications liberalisation.

I expect to submit to Parliament shortly the official text of part II of the European Commission's Green Paper on the liberalisation of telecommunications infrastructure and an explanatory memorandum on it.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the export licence application refused for the export of goods to Gibraltar in 1993 was for equipment specified as MLI in group 1 of part III of schedule 1 of SI, 1992, No. 3092.

No.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what casing or components for anti-personnel mines have been exported by United Kingdom firms since 1982.

I am not aware of any export of specially designed components for anti-personnel mines, but this could be established only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many licences to manufacture British designed anti-personnel mines have been sold to foreign firms since 1982.

This is a matter for my right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence. My Department does not maintain such records.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if United Projects Co. Ltd. has been granted a licence to communicate with Iraq since sanctions began.

It has been the policy of successive Administrations not to comment on individual licensing cases unless the public interest outweighs the need for confidentiality.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will identify the sites and locations where foreign direct investment has created 300 or more jobs from 1984 onwards; and if he will provide a regional assessment of the total employment created by such investment as at 1 January.

I regret that information in the detail requested by the hon. Member is available only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade under which headings of the successive export control orders from 1988 batons and personal security equipment designed to blind, stun or disable were included.

Such equipment has been classified under one heading—PL5001.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade which sections of the export of goods control orders cover "stealth" coatings and materials; and whether export of designs and expertise related to such coatings are also licensable exports.

"Stealth" coatings and materials are controlled in entry ML17(c), fittings, coatings and treatments for signature suppression of group 1 and entries 1C001, materials specially designed for use as absorbers of electromagnetic waves, and 1C101, materials and devices for reduced observables of group 3 of the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994—EG(C)0.

To aks the President of the Board of Trade how many jobs have been safeguarded in the northern region through offers of regional and regional selective assistance since 1979.

For the region covered by the Government office for the north-east, 43,071 jobs were safeguarded through the operation of the regional selective assistance scheme between 1979 and 1994. The principal criteria for the regional development grants schemes related to the level of capital expenditure not the number of jobs safeguarded. The first RDG scheme closed for applications on 28 November 1985 and the second on 31 March 1988.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many trading companies are based in the northern region of England; and what was the figure in 1978.

For the region covered by the Government office for the north-east, there were 43,222 VAT registered companies trading on 31 December 1993, the latest available figures. On 31 December 1979—the first year that figures were collated—there were 37,436 VAT registered companies trading in the region.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list the companies which have located in the northern region since 1979 which have received Government assistance together with the amount of Government assistance each received at 1995 prices and an estimate of the jobs created or safeguarded, and from which country each company came;(2) if he will list the overseas inward investment in the northern region since 1979 by

The information for the period 1985–94 is in the tables. The figures cover all new investments, a total of 67 projects, which received regional selective assistance, regional development grants and/or regional enterprise grants. These projects were drawn from a list of 376 projects including new investment, expansions, joint ventures and acquisitions.It has not been possible to produce figures for 1979 to 1985 as records for that period are incomplete, unavailable or have been destroyed.