To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding he will make available to chief constables to ensure that all police officers are issued with bullet-proof or knife-proof vests. [26274]

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: No specific provision is being made available for this purpose, but total funds for the police service increased by 4 per cent. in 1995–96 to £6.4 billion. It is for chief officers to decide when and how to equip police officers with body armour, reflecting local priorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many persons over the past two years who were held in police custody had warrants separately issued for their arrest in respect of non-payment at the time they were discharged from custody; and if he will make a statement. [26028]

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: The information requested is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the names of those persons for whom there is a warrant for non-payment of fines are not included on the police national computer; and if he will make a statement. [26029]

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: Most warrants for non-payment of fines are executed locally, and the police often take the view that no useful purpose would be served by recording them on the police national computer. I understand that police forces enter the names of such persons on the police national computer where they consider that making the information available to other forces would be worth while, bearing in mind that the defaulter could not be arrested by any officer not in possession of the warrant itself.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what means custody officers in police stations have to establish whether persons whom they detain or release have warrants against them for non-payment of fines; and if he will make a statement. [26030]

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: All warrants issued by the courts and forwarded to the police are recorded on the force warrants register. In the case of warrants on which initial inquiries have been made without success, entries are made on the police national computer. For all persons coming into police custody, both sources of information are checked.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many women prisoners are currently being held (a) three to a one-person cell and (b) two to a one-person cell; and what were the figures for each of the last 10 years. [26095]

[holding answer 6 June 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 how many incidents of self-mutilation occurred in women's prisons in each of the last 10 years. [26097]

[holding answer 6 June 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 how many female prisoners in England and Wales are currently serving sentence for drug offences, by nationality of each prisoner. [26886]

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what is the average length of time for patients with hospital orders for manslaughter between the restriction order being imposed and any kind of leave of absence, including supervised shopping trips; [26096](2) pursuant to his answer of 11 May, Official Report, column 554, on restricted patients with a hospital order sentenced for manslaughter, for each year and each category, what was the average length of term between

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will state by category of crime, the type of crime committed by each of the female prisoners in custody as at 9 May and the length of sentence in each case. [25963]

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.

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: This information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 11 May, Official Report column 554, on restricted patients with a hospital order sentenced for manslaughter, how many of the patients in each year in each category have committed further offences since being released; and if he will give details of the offences. [26151]

[holding answer 6 June 1995]: Of the 84 restricted patients with a hospital order who were sentenced for manslaughter and discharged between 1985 and 1994, two are known to have been subsequently convicted of a standard list ¹offence before the end of 1993. One patient was sentenced for manslaughter in 1987, the other in 1989. The subsequent offences were theft from shops and burglary in a building other than a dwelling.

¹ All indictable—including triable either way—plus some summary.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners are currently held (a) three to a one-person cell and (b) two to a one person cell; and what these figures were for each of the past 10 years. [26150]

[holding answer 6 June 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 how many prisoners are currently held in (a) England and Wales and (b) London; and how many of them are in each security category. [26156]

[holding answer 6 June 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 if he will list the budget for each probation service in England and Wales for 1994–95 and 1995–96 in (a) cash and (b) comparable terms; and if he will identify the budget difference in (i) cash and (ii) percentage terms between those years for each probation service. [26878]

The information is given in the table:

Probation service	1994–95 budget (cash terms) (£)	1995–96 budget (cash terms)1(£)	1995–96 budget (real terms)2(£)	Change from 1994–95 to 1995–96 in cash terms (£)	Change from 1994–95 to 1995–96 in percentage terms
Cleveland	4,827,165	4,823,077	4,671,261	(4,088)	-0.1
Cornwall	2,498,062	2,534,760	2,454,973	36,698	1.5
Cumbria	4,024,646	3,969,364	3,844,420	(55,282)	-1.4
Derbyshire	4,995,971	4,973,854	4,817,292	(22,117)	-0.4
Devon	7,164,724	7,019,289	6,798,343	(145,435)	-2
Dorset	4,303,024	4,234,358	4,101,073	(68,666)	-1.6
Durham	4,258,812	4,194,821	4,062,781	(63,991)	-1.5
Essex	8,787,508	8,670,720	8,397,792	(116,788)	-1.3
Gloucestershire	3,757,233	3,731,342	3,613,891	(25,891)	-0.7
Hampshire	9,064,455	8,982,941	8,700,185	(81,514)	-0.9
Hereford and Worcester	4,314,230	4,217,601	4,084,844	(96,629)	-1.7
Hertfordshire	5,713,026	5,582,714	5,406,987	(130,312)	-2.3
Humberside	6,113,919	6,054,183	5,863,615	(59,736)	-1
Kent	9,580,095	9,571,436	9,270,156	(8,659)	-0.1
Lancashire	8,817,083	8,758,995	8,483,288	(58,088)	-0.7
Leicestershire	5,369,795	5,325,131	5,157,512	(44,664)	-0.8
Lincolnshire	3,826,514	3,786,164	3,666,987	(40,350)	-1.1
Greater Manchester	23,570,470	23,455,063	22,716,768	(115,407)	-0.5
Merseyside	15,295,192	15,082,112	14,607,372	(213,080)	-1.4
Norfolk	4,079,001	4,046,821	3,919,439	(32,180)	-0.8
Northamptonshire	3,315,744	3,335,463	3,230,473	19,719	0.6
Northumbria	11,854,200	11,741,910	11,372,310	(112,290)	-0.9
Nottinghamshire	8,564,573	8,428,929	8,163,612	(135,644)	-1.6
Oxfordshire	3,527,945	3,457,918	3,349,073	(70,027)	-2
Shropshire	2,487,777	2,451,574	2,374,406	(36,203)	-1.5
Somerset	3,992,139	3,893,500	3,770,944	(98,639)	-2.5
Staffordshire	7,289,697	7,152,056	6,926,931	(137,641)	-1.9
Suffolk	3,585,647	3,561,455	3,449,351	(24,192)	-0.7
Surrey	5,567,848	5,517,022	5,343,363	(50,826)	-0.9
East Sussex	4,133,220	4,129,636	3,999,647	(3,584)	-0.1
West Sussex	3,199,562	3,190,990	3,090,547	(8,572)	-0.3
Warwickshire	3,352,241	3,310,034	3,205,844	(42,207)	-1.3
West Midlands	24,675,442	24,505,679	23,734,314	(169,763)	-0.7
Wiltshire	3,271,815	3,259,977	3,157,363	(11,838)	0.4
North Yorkshire	3,181,142	3,247,283	3,145,068	66,141	2.1
South Yorkshire	12,011,042	11,775,791	11,405,124	(235,251)	-2
West Yorkshire	18,846,175	18,662,490	18,075,051	(183,685)	-1
Inner London	37,333,414	36,696,501	35,541,405	(636,913)	-1.7
North East London	8,965,634	8,914,046	8,633,459	(51,588)	-0.6
South East London	5,915,413	5,878,271	5,693,241	(37,142)	-0.6
South West London	4,542,530	4,517,551	4,375,352	(24,979)	-0.5
Middlesex	16,320,936	16,126,480	15,618,867	(194,456)	-1.2
Dyfed	2,051,959	2,049,153	1,984,652	(2,806)	-0.1
Gwent	2,623,790	2,626,928	2,544,240	3,138	0.1
North Wales	3,454,566	3,453,344	3,344,643	(1,222)	0
Powys	786,562	768,276	744,093	(18,286)	-2.3
South Glamorgan	3,797,786	3,773,319	3,654,546	24,467	0.6
Mid Glamorgan	3,997,396	3,986,142	3,860,670	11,254	0.3
West Glamorgan	3,228,344	3,198,479	3,097,800	29,865	0.9
1 Figures are in terms of 100 per cent, grant implied by the cash limit and exclude additional funding devolved in 1995–96 to support partnership grants.
2 Using the GDP deflator with 1994–95 as the base year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what responses he has received to the review of probation officer recruitment and qualifying training discussion paper issued by his Department; and how many respondents broadly favour the document's proposals and how many broadly oppose them. [26207]

We expect to give an account of the nature and balance of the overall response in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has for changes to the 1995–96 cash and running costs limits within his responsibilities. [27441]

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary revised estimate, the cash limit for class VIII, vote 1—Home Office administration, police, probation and other services, England and Wales—will be reduced by £1,799,000 from £4,438,456,000 to £4,436,657,000. This will enable the transfer of £1,694,000 to the Lord Chancellor's Department in respect of the transfer of responsibility for marriage guidance and a running costs transfer of £105,000 to the Privy Council Office in respect of the Home Office contribution to the central drugs co-ordination unit.In consequence of these changes the Home Office gross running costs limit will be reduced by £105,000 from £1,740,436,000 to £1,740,331,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many juveniles aged 10 to 16 years were convicted in (a) Lancashire and (b) the north-west for each year since 1992 for each offence. [26727]

Number of persons aged 10–16 years convicted at all courts for all offences by area and type of offence 1992, 1993
	Lancashire1		North-west2		England and 1992
Type of offence	1992	1993	1992	1993	1992	1993
Indictable offences
Violence against the person	72	74	559	576	3,072	3,152
Sexual offences	4	9	57	42	246	261
Burglary	196	178	974	868	5,449	5,207
Robbery	22	16	184	222	931	1,082
Theft and handling stolen goods	272	225	1,577	1,548	7,936	8,361
Fraud and forgery	9	6	47	35	199	167
Criminal damage	19	28	90	143	954	1,121
Drug offences	7	6	94	69	334	266
Other (excluding motoring)	24	23	322	281	1,037	1,130
Motoring	2	4	43	20	270	132
Total indictable	627	569	3,947	3,804	20,428	20,879
Summary non-motoring	204	200	1,373	1,331	6,673	6,057
Summary motoring	55	58	294	362	1,905	2,324
All offences	886	827	5,614	5,497	29,006	29,260
1 Lancashire police force area.
2 North-west region = Cumbria, Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire police force areas.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners originally emanating from Nigeria and sentenced for drug offences have been (a) paroled and (b) subsequently deported since 1 January 1994. [26887]

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 how many people have died since 1965 at the hands of previously convicted killers. [27139]

During the period 1965 to date, a total of 72 persons in England and Wales are known to have been killed by persons who had previously been convicted of homicide.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the procedures the Prison Service must follow in order to provide information to the police when serious offenders under long-term imprisonment escape. [27160]

The information as requested is not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. However, the table shows, in less detail, the number of offenders aged 10 to 16 convicted by type of offence group for the years 1992 and 1993: 1994 data will not be available until the autumn 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 if he will call for a report from the governor of Sudbury open prison on the escape of John Pritchard and the speed with which a photograph and other identification information was passed to the police; and if he will make a statement on the circumstances of the escape of John Pritchard from the custody of Her Majesty's Prison Service. [27159]

Responsibility for this matter have 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 is the current size of each index of the police national computer, indicating the minimum and maximum size of each index over the last year. [26438]

The numbers of records on each of the five databases on the police national computer, on 26 May 1995, are given in the table. The maximum and minimum numbers of records over time are not recorded.

	Number
Vehicles	41,396,172
Stolen property	58,888
Phoenix1 (convictions, disqualified drivers and wanted and missing persons)	5,314,544
Fingerprints	4,275,907
Crime Pattern Analysis	5,438
1 Phoenix—the Criminal Justice Record Service—replaced the names database on 22 May 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the current size of each category found in the (a) stolen and suspect vehicle index and (b) wanted and missing person's index of the police national computer, indicating the minimum and maximum size of each category in the index over the year. [26439]

On 26 May 1995, 458,264 vehicles were listed as lost or stolen and details on 44,486 suspect vehicles were recorded. The number of persons listed as wanted or missing was 138,585, but separate figures for the wanted and missing categories are not available. The maximum and minimum numbers of records over time are not recorded.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what information he has on the number of accesses made to the police national computer by each constabulary over the last year; and what was the proportion of access requests made to the vehicle indexes of the police national computer. [26447]

The number of transactions undertaken on the police national computer by each police force in England and Wales during the 12 months to 30 April 1995, together with the proportion of requests made to the vehicle database, is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many accesses were made to each index of the police national computer over the last year indicating the number of access requests that involved searching more than one index. [26437]

Data on the police national computer are stored on five databases. The number of transactions, which may involve additional or retrieval of information, undertaken on each database by police forces in England and Wales in the 12 months to 30 April 1995 is given in the table. It is not possible to determine whether transactions undertaken on separate databases are linked, with the exception of those undertaken on both the fingerprint and names databases. There were 798,853 transactions which involved the use of both these databases.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people are members of neighbourhood watch schemes; and what are his estimates of the impact of this scheme on crime. [25208]

At the latest count, there were over 130,000 neighbourhood watch schemes in England and Wales covering over 5 million households. The recent police research group report—"Policing and Neighbourhood Watch: Strategic issues"—has confirmed that crime and the fear of crime can be reduced in communities by setting up a neighbourhood watch group. The research also shows that belonging to a group has the added benefits of maintaining public confidence and good police-public relations; safeguarding against vigilantism; and reinforcing community spirit.In addition, many police forces I have visited have confirmed that neighbourhood watch schemes have played an important part in the fight against crime.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what considerations are being given by him to charging fees to members of neighbourhood watch schemes; and if he will make a statement. [25209]

There is no question whatsoever of charging of fees of any sort to neighbourhood watch members. The Government are keen to expand neighbourhood watch and encourage more members and will not contemplate measures which would be a disincentive.

To ask the Attorney-General what plans he has to amend cash limits and/or gross running costs limits within his Department. [27645]

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary revised estimate, the cash limit for class IX, vote 6, Treasury Solicitor's Department will be reduced by £250,000 from £7,244,000 to £6,994,000.The gross running costs limit for the Treasury Solicitor's Department will be increased by £1,000,000 from £20,258,000 to £21,258,000 to reflect extended use of the Treaury Solicitor's Department legal services by other Government Departments. The increased work load will generate additional receipts which will more than offset the increase in running costs expenditure.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what changes he plans to the 1995–96 cash limits for the Lord Chancellor's Department, class IX, vote 1. [27442]

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary supplementary estimate, the cash limit for class IX, vote 1 will be increased by £1,694,000 from £781,320,000 to £783,014,000. The increase, which relates to funding for marriage guidance, will be offset by a transfer from the Home Office class VIII, vote 1 and will not therefore add to the planned total of public expenditure.

To ask the Prime Minister what action he plans to take to prevent pay resolutions submitted by shareholders at company annual general meetings being treated at votes of confidence in the board of directors. [27323]

It is for the board to decide how it wishes to respond to any resolution which is submitted by shareholders to the company's annual general meeting. It is not for Government to determine the stance which either the directors or shareholders should adopt.

To ask the Prime Minister what action he plans to take to empower and encourage institutional shareholders to control directors' pay, and particularly in respect of the utilities. [27324]

The Government believe that institutional investors should take an active interest in the management of companies in which they invest, including matters such as executive remuneration. The terms of reference of the Greenbury committee, which is examining the structure within which executive pay is determined and disclosed, include consideration of the role of shareholders. I look forward to seeing the committee's recommendations.

To ask the Prime Minister what contracts have been awarded to Lowe Bell Communications since D day PR contract in 1994. [26972]

Lowe Bell Communications has been awarded no further contracts relating to the world war two commemorations since the D day contract. As for other contracts, this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Lord President of the Council if he will start discussions on the possibility of introducing the principle of written parliamentary questions being answered during parliamentary recess.

I have no plans to do so, but the hon. Gentleman may wish to ask the Procedure Committee to consider his suggestion.

To ask the Chairman of the Administration Committee when he expects a national lottery outlet in the House to be operational.

At its meeting on 28 February, the Administration Committee considered a request from Camelot Group plc for permission to install a lottery terminal within the precincts of the House. The principle which guides the Committee in its consideration of requests of this kind is that any proposed service must be of direct relevance in assisting Members to carry out their parliamentary duties. It was felt that a lottery terminal did not meet this criterion.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the recommendations of the first report of the committee on standards in public life concerning NHS bodies. [25936]

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the Nolan committee recommendations for (a) appointment to national health service boards and (b) as rewards whistleblowing. [26310]

I broadly welcome the recommendations made by the committee on standards in public life on issues relating to national health service bodies. The Government will be considering in detail all the recommendations addressed to the Government and will be responding before the summer recess to those singled out by the committee for early implementation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what would be the cost to the NHS of restoring the right to (a) a free eye test and (b) a free dental check-up. [26567]

On the basis that the trend in the number of sight tests apparent before the announcement of changes in November 1987 continued, and with the sight test fees remaining at the 1994–95 level, the cost of restoring free sight tests is estimated to be in the order of £110 million.Based on the prices and charges applying in 1994–95 and assuming that the removal of the charge led to no increase in the number of dental examinations, the annual cost of abolishing charges for dental examinations is estimated to be in the order of £60 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what matters were discussed and what matters decided at the EU Health Council on 2 June; and what matters were voted upon. [26696]

The Health Council on 2 June agreed common positions on three proposals from the European Commission for Community actions in the field of public health which covered: combating cancer; health promotion, information, education and training; and prevention of AIDS and other communicable diseases. Political agreement was reached on a fourth proposal for a programme combating drug dependence, on which the opinion of the European Parliament is still awaited. The Council agreed conclusions on the Commission's European Union action plan to combat drugs—1995 to 1999—agreed to a resolution on blood safety and self-sufficiency in the European Community, and discussed but drew no conclusions on a memorandum from the French presidency on orphan medicines. Orphan medicines are used to treat orphan diseases which are extremely rare diseases with very low numbers of sufferers. The matters on which decisions were taken were agreed by all member states, with no abstentions or votes against.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures she intends to take to raise the profile of children's services plans. [27567]

I propose to make an order under section 17(4) of the Children Act 1989 to impose a specific duty on local authorities to produce and publish children's services plans.Authorities will be expected to use their powers under section 27 of the Children Act to request local education and health authorities to collaborate with them in the planning process for such plans.Copies of the consultation letter and draft circular will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the third report to Parliament on the Children Act 1989 will be published; and if she will make a statement. [27568]

I have, today, placed in the Library the third report to Parliament on the operation of the Children Act in England and Wales.The report shows that local authorities are placing more emphasis on supporting children within their own families, as well as placing a greater proportion of children they look after in foster families and improving the quality of residential care.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will make a statement on the number of attacks on staff, patients and property in GP practices. [26740]

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the operational definition of the net ingredient cost of drugs for the NHS; and if she will make a statement. [27131]

"Net ingredient cost" is a term applied to drugs dispensed within the family health services in England and Wales. It refers to the cost of drugs before discounts available to dispensers, container allowances and value added tax, if appropriate, are taken into account. It does not include any dispensing costs or fees.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what changes have taken place in the operation of Brentwood blood transfusion centre within the last six months; and if she will make a statement. [27174]

The operation of the blood transfusion service is a matter for the National Blood Authority.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the total capital expenditure on the Brentwood blood transfusion centre in each year for the last five years for which figures are available; and if she will make a statement. [27175]

The information is not available centrally. The hon. and learned Member may wish to contact Sir Colin Walker, chairman of the National Blood Authority, for information from 1 April 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) where the administration and distribution of blood and blood products to the south-east of England will be based after the proposed closure of the Brentwood blood transfusion centre; [27176](2) if she will make a statement on the future organisation of the national blood service. [27180]

These are matters for the National Blood Authority. The authority has undertaken an extensive consultation and will produce revised proposals shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to introduce an accreditation system for privately owned ambulance services; and if she will make a statement. [27181]

This Department has no plans to offer accreditation to private ambulance operators. A code of practice for private ambulance operators, issued by the national health service executive, EL(93)109, has already been circulated widely and copies are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary for Health if she will make a statement as to the rules governing the qualifications of staff employed as (a) ambulance technicians and (b) paramedics in private ambulance services. [27177]

It is for private ambulance service operators and those contracting for their services to ensure that staff employed have qualifications appropriate for their duties.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will restrict the use of the term "paramedic" to the specific holders of the national health service TD qualification; and if she will make a statement. [27182]

Closure of title is a goal for paramedics themselves to pursue. I understand that the Ambulance Services Association has already initiated moves towards that end.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the progress within the Overseas Development Administration in respect of the funding of the Grameen trust; and when he expects a decision to be made on funding. [25878]

I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply I gave to the hon. Member for Hampstead and Highgate (Ms Jackson) on 23 May, column 511.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what progress has been made in implementing the recommendations of the Wapenhams report that incentives to World bank staff should reflect success in implementing the poverty reduction agenda rather than loan disbursement. [25629]

The bank issued a report in September 1994 describing progress made in the implementation of "Portfolio management; next steps: a programme of actions". Copies of the report have been placed in the Libraries of the House. Measures taken include: revised job competencies with a strong focus on implementation; recruitment efforts to fill skills gaps, especially in the social sciences; introduction of a new project performance rating methodology, emphasising achievement of development objectives and work on performance indicators. Performance indicators on poverty reduction were among those completed last year.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will make it his policy to ensure that the World bank's country poverty assessments are (a) prepared according to consistent, published criteria, (b) take account of non-income measures of wealth and (c) are used to inform country public expenditure reviews; [26527](2) if he will make it his policy to ensure that World bank country poverty assessment teams include

A working group on poverty reduction was set up under the framework of the bank-led special programme of assistance for sub-Saharan Africa. It made recommendations last autumn for improving the quality of poverty assessments and their linkage to such other work as public expenditure reviews and country assistance strategies. The United Kingdom has played an active role in this working group.The recommendations highlighted the importance of carefully designed and professionally conducted participatory poverty assessment techniques by teams with the appropriate mix of skills; the need for local participation and collaboration; and a broader approach towards measuring poverty, including non-income measures. Bank management is aiming to ensure that this best practice is reflected in future poverty assessment exercises.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the requests to the Government for aid and assistance for demining in Angola in each of the last three years; and if he will make a statement. [26773]

The first requests for assistance with humanitarian demining in Angola were received from British non-governmental organisations—Halo Trust and the Mines Advisory Group—in 1994. Pending conclusion of the Lusaka peace talks, we provided £482,243 for demining training, marking and surveying. Since then, we have provided £1,242,825 for expansion of their efforts in Bie, Huambo and Moxico provinces. We are encouraging the European Commission to help co-finance their activities. We are also supporting the UN's central mine action office in Luanda with two key posts—the mines training officer and operations room manager—plus related office support and equipment—£230,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations about East Timor were made by the Minister for Overseas Development during her recent visit to Indonesia; and what was the response of the Indonesian Government. [27014]

My right hon. and noble Friend the Minister for Overseas Development discussed a wide range of issues including human rights and the situation in East Timor during her visit to Indonesia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what matters were discussed and what matters decided at the European Union Development Council meeting on 1 June; and what matters were voted upon. [26697]

The Development Council decided on a political and technical dialogue with the Government of Rwanda, which will enable EC aid to be resumed. The Council agreed resolutions on complementarity, structural adjustment and regional integration, and a declaration providing guidelines for research. The Council also set priorities for EC aid to South Africa in 1995, and launched a joint evaluation of EC aid programmes to the African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, the Mediterranean, and Asian and Latin America. There were exchanges of view on EC humanitarian aid, rehabilitation, migration and development, and the UN world conference on women.No votes were taken.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations have been made to the Government of the Cameroon concerning the destruction of the tropical rain forest by logging companies. [25430]

The conservation and sustainable management of tropical forests are the focus of our aid programme to Cameroon and also the subject of regular dialogue with the Government of Cameroon. We are helping implement new forestry laws aimed at controlling exploitation and giving wider management powers to rural communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence on how many occasions his Department has been sued by a former member of the armed forces as a result of incidents involving the negligent discharge of weapons in each of the last five years. [25935]

Fifty-three compensation claims have been identified for injury resulting from the negligent discharge of weapons. Legal proceedings have been issued in 16 cases.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what military purpose three rough terrain wheeled tractors are required, as set out in tender No. EM and DIA/152; what consideration has been given to lease or contract hire of such equipment; and if he will make a statement. [26120]

I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave on 19 January 1995, Official Report, column 684.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Princess Alexandra hospital in Swindon will be leased to the Princess Margaret hospital trust after the closure of the former in 1996. [26306]

Negotiations with the Swindon and Marlborough NHS trust on a possible use for the hospital have been progressing well, although a number of stages remain to be completed before a contract could be signed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions he has had with representatives of Pan European Airways with regard to proposals to fly calves from military airbases in conjunction with the National Farmers Union; and if he has to date authorised the use of such bases. [26733]

My Department has received no such approaches from Pan European Airways.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 17 May, Official Report, column 230, on how many occasions since 1965 a guardship from his Department has not attended the Dartmouth royal regatta; if he will list the additional official duties during August 1995 which prevent the attendance of a guardship at the current regatta; and if he will review his decision. [27354]

The Royal Navy has on each occasion between 1965 and 1994 been able to provide a vessel to attend the Dartmouth royal regatta. While it is not our practice to reveal the detailed operational programme of the Royal Navy, the following official tasks are being undertaken by Her Majesty's ships during August:

• Destroyers/Frigates—VJ commemorations—four vessels (visiting London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast)
• Plymouth Navy Days—five vessels
• Royal Yacht Escort—one vessel
• Mine Counter-measure Vessels—VJ Day—one vessel (visiting Liverpool)
• Navy days—one vessel

Coming on top of the very high levels of operational commitments affecting RN vessels at present, these tasks mean that, regrettably, there is no prospect of providing a ship to attend the 1995 Dartmouth royal regatta.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the consultant's report on the future of RAF Rissington, Gloucestershire; and if he will make a statement. [27268]

It is not my Department's policy to publish such reports. In due course, a draft planning brief for the site will be released by the Cotswold district council for public consultation, and I understand that the hon. Member will be involved in that process.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many civilian buildings were hit and how many civilian casualties were incurred in the recent bomb and rocket attacks by American planes under NATO command in the Sarajevo area. [27209]

None of which we are aware.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will seek to establish the ownership of the equipment jettisoned by an aircraft in west Cumbria on 31 May and the circumstances in which it was jettisoned. [27304]

I can confirm that my Department is inquiring into the circumstances which led to the discovery of an undamaged aircraft fuel tank to establish whether it was lost by a military aircraft.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the cost of implementing additional flying training to date at Royal Air Force Topcliffe; what is the estimated total cost when complete; and if he will make a statement. [27162]

As part of the Royal Air Force's flying training rationalisation programme, a change of task is being implemented at RAF Topcliffe. This change will not involve additional flying training at the station, but there has been and will be some relocation of units to and from the site. The estimated cost of the relocation of flying units to RAF Topcliffe is £460,000; the majority of these costs will be incurred in financial year 1995–96.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultations his Department had with (a) local authorities, (b) local organisations and (c) residents prior to upgrading the additional flying hours and training aircraft at Royal Air Force Topcliffe; and if he will make a statement. [27166]

There has been no such consultation as no increase in flying hours or the number of training aircraft at RAF Topcliffe is planned as a result of the Royal Air Force's flying training rationalisation programme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the increased number of (a) personnel, (b) aircraft by types and (c) flying hours when Royal Air Force Topcliffe has reached its additional training programme; and if he will make a statement. [27165]

No increase is planned in the number of my Department's personnel, aircraft or flying hours flown at RAF Topcliffe. Future flying training at RAF Topcliffe will, however, be conducted on the Tucano aircraft, whereas previous flying training carried out at the station utilised the Firefly aircraft.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 17 May, Official Report, column 230, if he will list all those Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Army bases which were sold to the highest bidder. [26275]

The information requested is not held centrally by my Department, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the estimated cost to his Department of undertaking (a) a structural survey of key buildings and breakwaters and (b) an environmental assessment of the Portland naval base on behalf of the purchaser, Portland Port Ltd.; when this work began; and if he will make a statement. [26277]