To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department which permanent secretaries have left his Department's employment in the last five years, and which public positions they have been appointed to subsequently.

No permanent secretary has left the Lord Chancellor's Department's employment in the last five years.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department how many men and women applied for career breaks in his Department; and how many have had their employment terminated in the last five years.

Details of how many men and women applied for a career break within the last five years were not recorded centrally until July 1994. Since then 20 applications have been made, two of which were refused. None of the 20 have had their employment terminated.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what evidence he has in support of the conclusion of the White Paper on the future of the civil service that market testing has created savings.

The evidence can he found in the "Market Testing Bulletin Special Report", published in January, which is available in the Library. The report includes full details of the results of the "Competing for Quality" programme—including market testing— to September 1994 and shows that Departments have now identified annual cost savings of over £400 million from a programme covering over £2 billion of Government services.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which permanent secretaries have left his Department's employment in the last five years; and which public positions they have been appointed to subsequently.

In the five years from 1 March 1990, Sir Peter Kemp KCB, has left this Department's employment as a permanent secretary, and Sir Peter Graham KCB QC and Sir Constant Henry de Waal, KCB, QC have left as first parliamentary counsels.Sir Peter Kemp has been subsequently appointed as a part-time commissioner with the Audit Commission.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many staff are employed in the development unit for women in science and engineering located within the office of Science and Technology; what are its aims and objectives; and for how many years its funding is guaranteed.

The development unit on women in science, engineering and technology has a staff of two plus administrative support; its aims and objectives are outlined in the Government's response to the "Rising Tide" report; and its future will be reviewed after an initial period of two years.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what practical benefits to British industry have arisen from the technology foresight initiative.

Many—in particular in the medium to longer term.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is the current calculation of the amount of money that the BBC will reallocate to the regions and what percentage that will be of the present level of spending on network productions.

The BBC last year published plans for a gradual reallocation of expenditure on network production to regions outside London and south east England. This will be worth an additional £75 million a year by 1997–98, and represents an increase of 48 per cent. over 1993-94 expenditure of £155 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what steps he is taking to improve the care of historic Government buildings.

The Government committed themselves in 1992 to a nine-point plan for the care of historic buildings on their own estate. This provides for regular inspection and maintenance of these buildings and an annual report by my Department's conservation unit on their condition. I am today publishing, for the first time, the conservation unit's report.I am also issuing today new guidance to Departments on the disposal of surplus historic buildings. This follows from the "Efficiency Scrutiny of the Management of the Government Estate," published last year, which identified the need for guidance on the particular considerations arising in respect of the disposal of historic properties, over and above those applying to disposals generally. The main emphasis of the guidance is that "best price" should not be the overriding concern when considering the disposal of a building. Rather, Departments should aim to obtain the best return for the taxpayer that is consistent with Government policies for the protection of historic buildings and areas.I am placing copies of both documents in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment he has made of the significance of the pink pound to Britain's tourism and leisure industry.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage which permanent secretaries have left his Department's employment in the last three years; and which public positions they have been appointed to subsequently.

Mr. Hayden Phillips was appointed as permanent secretary to my Department when it was created in April 1992. Mr. Phillips is still in post.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what information he collects on the amounts ITV companies are spending on new British programmes and on dividends to shareholders.

Such information is not collected by Government. These are commercial matters for ITV companies, acting within the terms of their licences.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what system of planning and management information systems is currently in place in his Department; and what documents pertaining to it are available to (a) hon. Members and (b) the public.

My Department prepares internal business and forward management plans, and the many bodies which my Department funds produce business and strategic plans, some of which are published. The DNH annual report, containing the Department's expenditure plans, is prepared each year as part of the series of departmental reports presented to Parliament. It is published and available to the public through HMSO bookshops.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what changes he is making to his Department's planning and management information systems in the light of the fundamental expenditure review of the Department and the recommendations of the multi-departmental efficiency scrutiny of such systems.

Neither of these reviews has yet reported. I will consider any action I wish to take when they do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage when he intends to announce plans for a national framework for children's play.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Eltham, (Mr. Bottomley) on 2 March, Official Report, column 640.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what proposals he has to fund the National Voluntary Council for Children's Play in 1995–96.

My Department currently has no budget for children's play. I understand that the NVCCP has submitted an application to the Sports Council's Trust Company for an extension of its present grant into the 1995–96. In relation to funding for children's play from October 1995, I refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gave to my hon. Friend, the Member for Eltham (Mr. Bottomley) on 2 March, Official Report, column 640.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how much money will be made available from national lottery funds to sports clubs, including football clubs.

[holding answer 7 March 1995]: Twenty per cent. of the net proceeds from the national lottery will be made available to sport and distributed through the four national sports councils. This amount currently stands at around £48 million. It will be for the sports councils themselves to decide which projects should receive funding, based on the applications they receive.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage which listed buildings in (a) Inverclyde, (b) Strathclyde and (c) Scotland are deemed eligible for financial assistance towards the cost of renovation by Historic Scotland from moneys obtained from the national lottery; what criteria are used to assess such applications; and if he will make a statement.

[holding answer 6 March 1995]: Repairs to historic buildings throughout the United Kingdom are eligible for lottery funding directly from the National Heritage Memorial fund—NHMF—if they fulfil the criteria set down within the "Guidelines for Applicants to the Heritage Lottery Fund" published by the trustees of the NHMF, a copy of which is available in the Library of the House. Repairs to historic buildings within the care of Historic Scotland itself are similarly eligible for lottery funding from the NHMF.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what assessment he has made on the impact of the income of football pools and society lotteries on the introduction by Camelot of a scratch lottery.

[holding answer 7 March 1995]: National lottery instant win games have not yet been introduced. It will be for the football pools companies and the promoters of society lotteries, in the first instance, to assess any impact which the introduction of such games may have on their income.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what items of correspondence were received by Ministers in his Department from Messrs Ian Greer Associates in the last month.

[holding answer 28 February 1995]: In the last month Ministers in my Department have received one such item of correspondence.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if he will list the items for which the issuing of export licences was withheld on the recommendation of the reviewing committee on the export of works of art during the half year ended 31 December, specifying in each case the valuation and whether any item was exported or retained, with particulars in the latter event of the acquiring institution; and if he will list any items for which licences have been withheld but the final disposal of which is not yet decided, specifying in each case (a) the valuation and (b) the relevant time limit.

[holding answer 19 January 1995]: The information is as Follows:-

Description of item	Valuation £	Outcome
A drawing, 'Two Horsemen Fighting' dated 1620–30 by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called II Guercino	147,807	Export licence granted.
The Narcissus Washstand designed by William Burges c.1865–67	250,000	Acquired by the Cecil Higgins Trust.
An autograph working manuscript of 21 keyboard pieces, by Henry Purcell, c. 1680–1690	281,137.50	Acquired by the Trustees of the British Library.
A Ceremonial bronze dirk, middle Bonze Age 1500–1350 BC, From Oxborough, Norfolk	52,050	Acquired by the Trustees of the British Museum.
A carved Narwhal ivory horn from the mid 12th century	448,762.50	Decision Further deferred until after 18 March 1995.
A painting, 'The Painter's Room', by Lucien Freud, dated 1943	515,812.50	Decision deferred until after 1 April 1995.
An arithmetical Rotula	46,462.50	Under consideration by the Secretary of State.
The Stanhope Calculator	247,612.50	Under consideration by the Secretary of State.
Materials relating to Stanhope's Demonstrator	46,462.50	Under consideration by the Secretary of State.
A sculpture by Henry Moore, 'Head and Shoulders' (1927–28)	475,000	Decision deferred until after 6 April 1995.
A bust of Thomas Hollis by Joseph Wilton, c. 1700	400,000	Export licence granted.
A painting, 'Daniel and Cyrus before the Idol Bel' by Rembrandt dated 1633	4,800,000	Export licence granted.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which permanent secretaries have left his Department's employment in the last five years; and which public positions they have been appointed to subsequently.

Sir Clive Whitmore retired from the Home Office as permanent secretary within the period covered by the question. He has not been appointed to any position by Ministers.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to respond to Mr. John Shaw of 33 Bellpit close, Worsley in the matter of pension entitlement from Crown service overseas.

It has not been possible to trace any correspondence from Mr. John Shaw on the matter of pension entitlement from Crown service overseas. I have asked my officials to write to Mr. Shaw asking him to write in again, or to send a copy of his original letter, and the matter will then receive early attention.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to publish the 1995 "National Standards for the Supervision of Offenders in the Community".

I shall publish tomorrow the 1995 "National Standards for the Supervision of Offenders in the Community" jointly with my right hon. Friends the Secretary of State for Health and the Secretary of State for Wales and simultaneously will place copies in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total annual cost to public funds of housing in detention all those seeking asylum.

The available information does not identify separately those costs which relate to asylum seekers.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the cost per detainee per year for each of the establishments in which those who are seeking asylum in the United Kingdom are detained.

The overall cost of detaining a person in detention accommodation for which the Immigration Service is responsible is currently estimated at £540 per week including full Immigration Service staffing costs. This would equate to £28,080 in a year but detention for this period would be most unusual. Figures for individual centres are not kept separately. Some people are detained under powers in the Immigration Act 1971 in Prison Service establishments, where the average cost per place in 1993–94 was £411 per week–£21,372 per year–but these figures exclude headquarters staffing costs.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the relationship between black people and the police; and what plans he has to improve it.

The police service and the Government are committed to developing positive relationships between the police and all sections of the community, including minority ethnic groups. Measures taken to meet the needs of these communities include a statutory requirement for consultation with the community; the introduction of ethnic monitoring of police activity; the establishment of the inter-departmental racial attacks group and other activities in police forces to deal with racial violence; provision of a range of training in community and race relations; force recruitment campaigns aimed at encouraging ethnic minority candidates to apply to join the police; and improved grievance procedures against allegations of discrimination within police forces.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many court reports were completed by the north east London probation service during 1992 and 1993;(2) how many offenders were supervised by the north east London probation service on 30 June 1994.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, North-East (Mr. Timms) on 28 February 1995 (column 539).

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many staff are employed and at what grade by the north east London probation service on 30 June 1992, 30 June 1993 and 30 June 1994.

I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to a question by the hon. Member for Walthamstow (Mr. Gerrard) on 6 March 1995 at column 31.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what evidence he has of the activities of Combat 18 amongst supporters of Chelsea football club;(2) what assessment he has made of the role of the British National party and Combat 18 in the disturbances in Bruges on 27 and 28 February.

Responsibility for gathering information about extremist organisations and their members, and for the investigation of specific criminal offences, rests with the police. I understand from the police that there is no evidence that Combat 18 is itself involved amongst the supporters of Chelsea football club, although some of those who associate with the supporters may have sympathies with this group. Neither is there evidence to suggest that the BNP or Combat 18 were involved in the disturbances in Bruges on 27 and 28 February.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to review the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

The Dangerous Dogs Act is kept under continuing review in the light of how it works, including consideration of the points made in the private Peer's Bill currently before another place.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what were the section 11 allocations made for each local authority in 1994–95.

Allocations to individual authorities are subject to adjustment from time to time in the light of a change in circumstances—for example, when a school or college opts to set up a separate project. The following table shows the current allocations for the 1994–95 financial year.

Authority	Home Office cash allocations
Avon	615,251
Barking and Dagenham	230,860
Barnet	748,243
Bedfordshire	2,361,022
Berkshire	1,053,875
Bexley	100,138
Birmingham	4,035,694
Blackburn	49,539
Bolton	880,505
Bradford	4,204,150
Brent	1,742,385
Buckinghamshire	1,095,250
Burnley	18,774
Bury	354,547
Calderdale	853,361
Cambridgeshire	976,563
Camden	1,111,346
Cardiff	7,888
Cheshire	73,862
Cleveland	479,638
Coventry	2,108,375
Croydon	949,775
Derbyshire	1,046,415
Devon	11,949
Doncaster	100,338
Dudley	877,198
Durham	119,090
Ealing	2,615,675
East Sussex	139,412
Enfield	1,058,164
Essex	25,755
Gateshead	22,732
Gloucester	28,983
Gloucestershire	265,008
Greenwich	1,329,673
Gwent	192,662
Hackney	3,147,620
Hammersmith	713,289
Hampshire	558,367
Haringey	2,604,874
Harrow	556,992
Havering	36,169
Hereford and Worcester	175,235
Hertfordshire	1,492,311
Hillingdon	317,055
Hounslow	1,389,502
Humberside	275,863
Hyndburn	17,860

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish the compliance cost assessment for the draft data protection directive as it applies to the United Kingdom (a) as regards the 1992 draft and (b) the draft agreed at the latest Council of Minsters meeting;(2) if he will state the categories of paper records to which the draft data protection directive now applies; and what estimate he has made of the costs which this provision will impose on British businesses.

A paper showing the results of a survey of the estimated cost of implementing the 1992 draft of the directive in the United Kingdom has been made publicly available. A copy of this paper was placed in the Library of the House last year. We have as yet made no estimate of the cost of implementing the present

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prosecutions have been brought in each year since the passing of the Intoxicating Substances Supply Act 1985; and how many have been successful.

Information for 1985 to 1993 is given in the table. 1994 data will not be available until the autumn 1995.draft of the directive, although the improvements made to the directive, as set out in my reply to my hon. Friend on 23 February at column

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the good practice guidelines to local authorities and police authorities on the use of closed circuit television in public places.

A copy of the Home Office publication "CCTV—Looking Out for You" has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the home Department if he will list (a) all local authorities and (b) all police authorities, indicating joint ventures, operating closed circuit television schemes in public places and give the total capital cost per scheme and annual operating cost per scheme.

This information is not collected centrally. A list of some towns believed to be operating

Research Project/Publication	Institution/Research body/Author	Cost	Date of completion
The Impact of Closed Circuit Television on Crime in the London Underground—Home Office Research Study No. 49	Home Office; Research and Planning Unit	Not available	1978
Close Circuit Television in Public Places—Crime Prevention Unit Paper No. 35	T. Honess and E. Charman of Michael and Associates, Cardiff, for the Home Office Police Research Group	£48,376	Summer 1992
Before and after research into the effectiveness of CCTV within Birmingham city centre	T. Honess and E. Charman of Michael and Associates, Cardiff, for the Home Office Police Research Group	£20,536	results to be published Summer 1995
Understanding public car parks, crime and CCTV: evaluation lessons from Safer Cities— Crime Prevention Unit Paper No. 42	Nick Tilley of Nottingham University, consultant to the Home Office Crime Prevention Unit	£12,000	1993
Town centre CCTV schemes: four case studies	Home Office Police Research Group	£ 10,000	Summer 1995
Effectiveness of CCTV security systems	Home Office Police Scientific Development Branch	£200,000 over 5 years	April 1997

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions take place when an overseas prisoner sentenced for crimes committed in the United Kingdom is returned to his country of origin to complete the remainder of his sentence as to the date of the release of such a person from prison.

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 if he will give details of all Home Office research projects examining the effectiveness of CCTV in public places in reducing crime levels indicating the institution, research body or individual responsible for the project, the cost per project and date of completion or expected date of completion.

The information is contained in the following table.all time spent in custody here relating to completion of sentence prior to the transfer, including any remand time. Following transfer, the remaining balance of time to serve attracts the early release arrangements of the foreign jurisdiction.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he has received about the sale of videos giving instructions on the use of explosives and on techniques for killing humans; and what response he has given.

My right hon. and learned Friend has received three letters from Members of Parliament and two letters from the public in the last 12 months about the supply of instructional videos that show the use of explosives and criminal techniques. Under the Video Recordings Act 1984 these works were exempt from classification by the British Board of Film Classification—BBFC—and their unclassified supply was not therefore unlawful. We have, however, taken action in the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 to ensure that all video works which depict techniques likely to be useful in the commission of offences or, which to any significant extent, depict criminal activity which is likely to any significant extent to stimulate or encourage the commission of offences, are subject to classification by the BBFC. The BBFC may of course withhold a classification certificate should it consider it appropriate to do so, particularly bearing in mind the statutory criteria set out in the Act which the board has to take into account when classifying works. Once the relevant provisions come into force anyone supplying a work in respect of which a certificate has been refused would be liable to prosecution.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 22 February, Official Report, column 223, if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which a journalist interviewed Private Clegg at Wakefield prison using an assumed name; and what actions he is taking to prevent such incidents taking place.

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the cost of the market testing exercise in connection with his Department's data processing work.

The estimated cost of conducting the market test of the Home Office's administrative information technology services division was £1,565,000. Estimated average annual savings arising from this market test are about £4.8 million or a saving of about 30 per cent. of the cost of comparable IT services under the former arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has to privatise the police national computer; if he will list those bodies with whom he has recently discussed this topic; and what assessment he has made of (a) the advantages and (b) the disadvantages of privatising the computer.

There are no plans for the privatisation of the police national computer— PNC2—which is housed at the Hendon data centre. But the Government continue to believe that it will in the longer term be beneficial to market test the operation of the police national computer service, with a view to contracting out its delivery while maintaining the ownership, control, and use of the records it contains in the hands of the police service. For the reasons given in my reply to a question by my right hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Shersby) on 8 February at columns 254–55, the current market test of the Hendon data centre will not proceed to competitive tendering at present. The position will be reviewed in about 18 months' time, when the requirement for the third generation computer—PNC3—which will eventually replace the current installation, becomes clearer.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the ongoing cost to his Department of monitoring the current costs relating to the contract for his Department's data processing work.

The total costs of managing the contract for information technology services provided by Sema Group plc are about £420,000 a year. They reflect the separation of purchaser and provider roles in the Department and would have been incurred whoever had won the market test for information technology services. Estimated average annual savings arising from this market test are about £4.8 million or a saving of about 30 per cent. of the cost of comparable IT services under the former arrangements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what criteria were used by him to assess the suitability of members of the new Warwickshire police authority when he considered the deletion of names from the list supplied to him.

[holding answer 27 February 1995]: I exercised my judgment as to who were the best candidates for appointment using the criteria of the qualities listed in the information for applicants for these appointments: good communication and financial skills; the ability to challenge accepted views in a constructive way; the ability to represent a wide range of people in the community and have an understanding of their policing needs and the pressure and challenges which face the police themselves; and possession of skills and experience which would broaden the expertise available to the police authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many names he himself deleted from the list supplied by the local nominating panel for the new Warwickshire police authority.

[holding answer 27 February 1995]: Ten.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department with whom he consulted about deleting any of the names supplied by the nominating panel for the new Warwickshire police authority; and with which hon. Members he held discussions about the nominations to the Warwickshire police authority.

[holding answer 27 February 1995]: The Home Office Whip was consulted. Ministers did not hold discussions with any hon. Members.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many names were supplied to him by the nominating panel for the new Warwickshire police authority; and how many he deleted from the list.

[holding answer 27 February 1995]: The selection panel for Warwickshire police authority supplied 20 names to me, which I reduced to ten for further consideration by the councillor and magistrate members of the authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) police officers and (b) civilians are currently serving in constabularies in (i) England and Wales and (ii) each constabulary in the east midlands; and how many were serving in 1979.

[holding answer 7 March 1995]: Information on those police forces in which I understand the hon. Member is interested is set out in the table. Information on England and Wales was given in the reply to his question on 1 March at column 575.

I Police officer strength
Forces	11979	11994
Derbyshire	1,757	1,793
Leicestershire	1,701	1,838
Lincolnshire	1,167	1,208
Northamptonshire	926	1,171
Nottinghamshire	2,125	2,331
1 As at 31 December.

II Civilian staff strength
Forces	11979	11994
Derbyshire	646	624
Leicestershire	362	687
Lincolnshire	312	504
Northamptonshire	249	464
Nottinghamshire	535	870
1 As at 31 December.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what was the number of applications his Department received for the sale of birds listed in appendix 1 of CITES and appendix C I of EC regulation 3626/82, and how many such birds were sold in the last year for which figures are available;(2) what estimate his Department has made of the number of bird species and the number of individual birds currently held in captivity in the United Kingdom which are listed in appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and appendix CI of EC regulation 3626/82.

In 1994 my Department received 1,276 individual applications to sell specimens of bird species listed on appendix I of CITES, or annex C1 of EC regulation 3626/82. Exemptions were subsequently issued permitting the sale of 1,958 birds. My Department has no estimate of the number of species or specimens in this category which are currently held in captivity.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he last met the officers and the councillors of Westminster city council to discuss the district auditor's interim report.(2) when he or any of his predecessors have met the hon. member for Westminster, North (Sir J. Wheeler) and the right hon. member for City of London and Westminster, South (Mr. Brooke) to discuss

So far as I am aware, no such meetings have taken place. These are matters for the local authority and their appointed auditor.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state the number of licences his Department has issued in each of the past two years for the importation of Stellar's sea eagle; if he will indicate the countries of origin and whether the birds were captive-bred; and if he will list the criteria that have to be met before a licence can be issued for the importation of Stellar's sea eagle.

In the last two years my Department has issued one permit allowing the import of two specimens of Stellar's sea eagle. The birds were taken from the wild in Russia.The criteria that have to be satisfied before an import permit can be issued are set out in article III of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and are that:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when he expects the case of Southport to be referred to and considered by the Local Government Commission;(2) when he expects those metropolitan areas which have expressed a strong desire for a change in the structure of local government to be referred to and considered by the Local Government Commission.

We intend to consider directing the commission to conduct boundary reviews of metropolitan areas alongside, and in the light of, any individual district structure reviews that may be required following my right hon. Friend's announcement on 2 March, Official Report, col. 1183.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment how much money was allocated to the educational components of the single regeneration budget in the successful local authority bids; and what he estimates to be the change in level of funding for section type projects transferred to the single regeneration budget.

Some 135 of the 201 approved bids from successful single regeneration budget partnerships are expected to include educational components. The SRB provides flexible financial support towards the overall cost of approved schemes. The amount of money likely to be spent on particular components, of what are generally multi-faceted bids, is therefore not available.The Government are providing £83 million in 1995–96 across the country for new and existing schemes under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 which assist minority ethnic communities overcome linguistic and cultural barriers. All the projects transferred to the single regeneration budget will continue to be funded for their planned lifetimes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make an announcement about the spending plans of his Department, Ordnance Survey and the Office of Water Services for the years 1995–96 to 1997–98.

Yes. I have today published the Department of the Environment's annual report for 1995. This sets out in detail the outcome of the public expenditure survey announced in the November 1994 Budget Statement as it affects the areas of my responsibility. The report provides an overview of how my Department, Ordnance Survey and Ofwat have discharged their functions over the past year. It provides background to each spending programme and sets out our plans for the future.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will set out the amounts of the council tax which are currently owing to the Harrogate borough council and each of the other district councils in North Yorkshire.(2) if he will set out the amounts of community charge which are currently owing to the Harrogate borough council and each of the other district councils in North Yorkshire.

Information on uncollected community charge and council tax for each local authority

Table 1—Interest rates and control totals
	Interest receipts element in the All Other Services block		Interest receipts element in the Capital Financing block
	Notional interest rate Per cent.	National control total £million	Notional interest rate Per cent.	National control total £ million
1993–94	10.4	–525.8	9.9	–301.0
1994–95	5.9	–432.4	9.2	222.0
1995–96	5.4	–351.0	9.1	–237.0

The interest rate used for the interest receipts element in the all other services block is the average LIBOR short-term interest rate. The rate used for the capital

Table 2: Interest receipt SSA elements for County Councils
	All other services block			Capital Financing block
Local Authority	1993–94 £Million	1994–95£million	1995–96 £million	1993–94£million	1994–95£million	1995–96£million
Avon	-7.410	-6.027	-4.446	-0.757	-0.840	-0.865
Bedfordshire	-4.761	-3.881	-2.844	-0.470	-0.513	-0.525
Berkshire	-6.176	-5.054	-3.786	-0.760	-0.828	-0.859
Buckinghamshire	-5.419	-4.486	-3.248	-0.847	-0.920	-0.934

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what is the assumed rate of interest for 1995–96 in respect of local authorities' assumed interest receipts; and what were the corresponding figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95;(2) what is the control total for the interest receipts element of the standard spending assessments for 1995–96;(3) what is the assumed amount of interest receipts for each county council for 1995– 96; and what were the corresponding figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95.

[holding answer 6 March 1995]: Interest receipts appear in both the all other services and the capital financing SSA elements. The former element includes allowance for interest which local authorities might earn on cash balances, reserves and usable receipts; the latter an allowance for interest which could be earned on reserved receipts–the portion of a capital receipt which has to be set aside as provision for credit liabilities.Table 1 shows the interest rates used for each SSA element for 1993–94, 1994–95 and 1995–96, together with the national control totals. Table 2 shows the assumed amounts for each county council.financing element is an average of short and long-term interest rates.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the implications of the Department of Trade and Industry's new energy projections for the United Kingdom climate change programme.

The new projections, announced today by my right hon. Friend the Minister for Industry and Energy, show that we can be confident of meeting our commitment under the climate change convention and that we now expect to exceed it, with emissions of carbon dioxide by the year 2001 significantly below 1990 levels.This achievement reflects the impact of the United Kingdom climate change programme which was published in January last year.In some areas we have exceeded our earlier expectations. In particular there has been a significant reduction in the carbon intensity of fuels used for electricity generation, through increased investment in combined cycle gas turbines and through improved performance of nuclear generation. This reflects the success of our policies of privatisation and continuing deregulation of the electricity and gas industries.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what new commitments on greenhouse gas emissions for the period beyond 2000 he will be proposing at the first conference of parties to the climate change convention.

In our national programme under the climate change convention we made clear the need to begin now to look beyond 2000 at further steps which may need to be taken to combat the risk of climate change. We held a national conference last year to discuss the way ahead. This will be an important issue at the first conference of the parties to the convention, which takes place in Berlin at the end of this month.The countries of the European Union have led the way in calling for a decision at Berlin to begin negotiations on new commitments beyond 2000. We have said that Berlin should set in hand the negotiation of a protocol which should strengthen and extend the existing commitments.The EU has called on all developed country parties to take measures aimed at stabilising CO2 emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000 and to work towards further steps to limit and reduce emissions of all greenhouse gases.At Berlin I shall therefore be calling on all OECD countries to accept this challenge recognising that, in order to encourage others to demonstrate their commitment to the convention, these countries must continue to take the lead. We cannot wait until the end of the century before deciding what to do next. Negotiations must start in Berlin towards agreeing new commitments which, using a comprehensive or "basket" approach, would aim at beginning to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries below 1990 levels.

Local Authority	Allocation 1995–96(£000s)	Related Units (1994–95)	Allocation 1995–96(£00s)	Related Units(1995–96)
Barnsley	1,445	59	875	33
Beverley	812	20	409	11
Boothferry	708	25	295	12
Bradford	8,373	280	5,438	212
Calderdale	3,067	92	1,206	47
Cleethorpes	867	31	367	17
Craven	711	28	187	7
Doncaster	2,878	122	1,585	70
East Yorkshire	1,149	42	425	25
Glanford	609	31	305	16
Great Grimsby	2,047	88	1,108	51
Hambleton	520	27	382	16
Harrogate	1.851	79	815	31
Holderness	368	28	252	15
Kingston upon Hull	3,959	145	1,843	87
Kirklees	6,950	231	3,126	116
Leeds	9,877	461	4,708	231
Richmondshire	530	26	249	11
Rotherham	1,076	45	578	30
Ryedale	821	38	444	22
Scarborough	1,851	86	553	23
Scunthorpe	–	–	155	10

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what consultations he has had with the director of the Office of Water Services about the pay and perks of directors and executives of the North West, Severn Trent and Yorkshire water and sewerage companies.

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the sums (a) pledged to and (b) provided for housing associations to build new homes for rent in each local authority area in Yorkshire and Humberside in the latest available year, together with the number of such homes which will be built in 1995–96 and the number of applications on current housing lists in each area.

Allocations made to housing associations from the Housing Corporation's approved development programme at the start of 1994–95, and those for 1995–96, to build new homes for rent in Yorkshire and Humberside are as listed by local authority area.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the names of the authorities to be included in the programme for housing transfers by councils in 1995–96; and if he will make a statement.

I am today announcing the names of the II authorities who will be able to proceed, on a voluntary basis and subject to the approval of their tenants, with proposals to transfers their housing stock to housing associations in 1995–96.I am pleased that it has been possible to include 11 authorities on the 1995–96 programme of large scale voluntary transfers which comprises nearly 47,000 dwellings valued at over £500 million.This is part of the Government's commitment to a continuing programme of transfers as means of generating private finance to repair and improve the condition of social housing and to increase the diversity and choice for tenants.The 11 authorities which have successfully gained a place on the 1995–96 programme, together with 12 recipient housing associations, are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment which permanent secretaries have left his Department's employment in the last five years; and which public positions they have been appointed to subsequently.

Sir Terry Heiser and Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield have retired as permanent secretaries in this Department in the five years from 1 March 1990. Ministers have appointed them to the following positions:Sir Terry Heiser to the trustees of the Victoria and Albert Museum; Sir Geoffrey Chipperfield to continue as chairman of the sponsoring committee for the construction of the international cross channel gas interconnector. Sir Geoffrey has also carried out two internal management reviews; of the senior staffing of the Health and Safety Executive and of finance, planning and policy arrangements of the Royal Fine Arts Commission.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what contribution the United Kingdom Government intend to make to the prevention of the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The nuclear non-proliferation treaty is the cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime. It has established an international norm against the spread of nuclear weapons and provides for effective International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards to verify compliance. We are working hard to secure the treaty's indefinite and unconditional extension at he review and extension conference in April and May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the achievement of an international agreement to eliminate all nuclear weapons is an objective of the United Kingdom Government.

We are committed to article VI of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, whereby we undertake to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Indonesia about the arrest and subsequent treatment of East Timorese leader Xanana Gusmao; and when he next intends to raise this case with the Government of Indonesia.

With our EU partners, we made representations to the Government of Indonesia during the course of Xanana Gusmao's trial in 1993. We have urged the Indonesian Government to allow representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross regular access to him, and will continue to monitor developments in his case.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Government of Indonesia about the arrest and subsequent treatment of Mr. Muchtar Pakpahan and Amosi Telaumbanua, of the Indonesian Welfare Labour Union; and when he next intends to raise these cases with the Government of Indonesia.

The European Union expressed concern in a public statement on 22 November 1994 about Mr. Pakpahan's conviction and sentencing on 13 February 1995 about the increased sentences given to him and Mr. Telaumbanua on appeal. With other EU embassies in Jakarta, we will continue to monitor their situation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the report of the hearing on 28 January into the case of Harjit Singh has now been prepared by his officers in the high commission in New Delhi.

At the 28 January hearing in the Harjit Singh case, a deputy superintendent of the Punjab police gave evidence. A senior police superintendent has since given evidence at hearings on 10 February and 3 March. The next hearing is due to take place on 11 March, when the police lawyer will give evidence. The case continues.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will press for restrictions on the international transportation of nuclear waste in discussions on the future of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

No. The international transport of nuclear waste resulting from civil nuclear activities is a matter for the commercial utilities. Provided that strict adherence is paid to international regulations governing safety of material and transportation, we would not interfere.