To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what operation and when it was carried out on patient C, the subject of an inquest in north Wales; who was the coroner at the inquest; what factors underlay the decisions (a) not to name the patient and (b) not to publish the date of the inquest; and what evidence was given by public officials during the proceedings on the case. [11927]

The question concerns a specific operational matter on which the chief executive of the Court Service is best placed to provide an answer and I have accordingly asked the chief executive to reply direct.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what is the estimated cost to the legal aid fund of the Maxwell fraud trial. [11717]

It would not be appropriate for me to speculate at this stage about the final cost of this case.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what are his plans for the CCTA, the Government centre for information systems. [13228]

The CCTA, currently an operational division of the Office of Public Service will, from 1 April 1996, operate as a next steps executive agency within OPS, and will remain based in Norwich. This will ensure that Government Departments continue to have available to them a range of expert specialist services in information technology and telecommunications which are independent and are valued by Departments.As an agency, CCTA will operate on a full cost recovery basis. It will therefore need to develop a stronger customer focus and undergo major restructuring and efficiency measures. It will work in close co-operation with the new central information technology unit which is being established in the OPS to provide a strategic approach to the use of information technology in government.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what representations he has had from the United Kingdom defence industry concerning the proposed leasing of American F16 aircraft. [12127]

I have received a number of representations from the UK defence industry concerning the Ministry of Defence's evaluation of a proposal to upgrade the Tornado F3's weapons systems.Those representations have been passed on to the Ministry of Defence in the normal way.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many new photocopiers his Department has (a) purchased and (b) leased since July 1995; and at what cost. [4291]

[pursuant to his reply, 6 December 1995, Official Report, c 256]: I regret that the figure given as the rental cost per annum of the 14 leased photocopiers to replace existing machines is incorrect. The correct information is as follows.Since 1 July 1995, the Cabinet Office and its agencies have purchased one additional photocopier at a cost of £895 and leased 18 photocopiers, 11 of which replaced existing machines, at a rental cost of £50,799 per annum.In the same period, HMSO and the Central Office of Information purchased four photocopiers, two Of which replaced existing machines, at a cost of £17,817 and leased 14 to replace existing machines at a rental cost of £23,366 per annum.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 9 January 1996, Official Report, column 121, what factors led his Department to accept photocopiers on variable contracts of three, four and five years over and above the leasing costs; and what is the minimum contractual cost of using and maintaining (a) the 18 photocopiers on three-year contracts, (b) the three photocopiers on four-year contracts and (c) the four photocopiers on five-year contracts. [8920]

[pursuant to his reply, 15 January 1996, Official Report, c 335]: I regret that the figure given as the minimum total cost of leasing the 18 photocopiers on three-year contracts is incorrect. The correct information is as follows.The minimum total cost of leasing

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, pursuant to his answer of 15 January 1996, Official Report, column 335, on costs of photocopiers, what was the estimated number of copies projected in respect of each contract and at what cost per copy. [10277]

[pursuant to his reply, 22 January 1996, Official Report, c.42]: I regret that the figure of 0.3p given as the cost per copy for the machine with the projected usage of 5 million copies is incorrect. The correct figure is 0.4p. The entire table with the corrected figure is as follows:

Estimated number of copies projected in respect of each contract and cost per copy for the 25 photocopiers
Copies projected for contract period	Cost per copy (p)
24,000,000	0.32
24,000,000	0.32
1,800,000	0.71
1,800,000	0.79
1,800,000	0.79
900,000	0.65
360,000	0.85
324,000	0.90
270,000	0.91
252,000	0.91
252,000	0.84
240,000	0.91
240,000	0.91
240,000	0.91
240,000	0.91
180,000	0.97
180,000	0.97
144,000	0.91
108,000	0.91
108,000	0.95
72,000	0.95
60,000	0.97
48,000	0.97
1,620,000	0.81 per first 90,000 per annum
	0.63 thereafter
5,000,000	First 1.2 million per annum included in contract price,
	next 200,000 at 0.5 per copy
	thereafter 0.4 per copy

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what estimate he has made of absenteeism rates in days per annum for staff in his Department for 1995–96. [11373]

The table below gives the available absenteeism figures for the central Cabinet Office including No. 10 and the executive agencies for which I am responsible. Figures for previous years and 1995–96 are not available.

	1993–94	1994–95
Central Department	8.48	8.45
COI	7.76	9.67
CS College	7.00	6.40
HMSO	9.86	7.03
OHSA	8.82	14.52
RAS	8.58	12.99
Chessington	9.00	10.37
SAFE	4.34	11.05
TBA	9.97	8.70
Total	8.35	8.61

Absence rates represent total days absent divided by total number of staff.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is his estimate of departmental expenditure on administration for (a) 1995–96 and (b) 1996–97. [11505]

Details of running costs and administrative spending by the Cabinet Office, including the Prime Minister's Office, and the Office of Public Service for the years 1989–90 through to 1997–98 are contained in tables 7.5 and 7.6 of my Department's annual report, Cm 2820, copies of which are available in the Members' Library. This year's report, due to be published at the end of March, will reflect the Cabinet Office's new responsibilities, following the machinery of government and other changes.

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what is his estimate of his Department's expenditure on newspapers and magazines for 1995–96 to date; and if he will list the publications purchased. [11508]

This information, and similar information for earlier years, can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of person days lost through unemployment since May 1979. [12316]

There is no means of assessing such a figure because no central records are kept of the numbers of hours unemployed people worked prior to becoming unemployed, nor of the number of hours they now wish to work.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much income the Government have received from North sea (a) oil and (b) gas exploitation for each year since 1979. [12480]

Tax revenues from oil and gas production were given in answer to the hon. Member for Warley, West (Mr. Spellar) on 12 December 1995, Official Report, columns 1053–54. Separate figures for revenues from oil and gas are not available because the main taxes concerned, corporation tax and petroleum revenue tax, are charged on aggregate company and field profits respectively. Royalties are also levied on each field's aggregate production. Many companies have interests in both oil and gas extraction and, in many fields, both products are extracted.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list for his Department and each of the agencies for which he is responsible, if it uses the Employment Service's positive about disabled people symbol for (a) external recruitment and (b) internal recruitment and promotion. [11992]

The Employment Service's positive about disabled people symbol is one of the action points in the Department's action plan on disability introduced last year.Of the Treasury's four agencies, one—the Royal Mint—currently uses the symbol for external recruitment. The Central Statistical Office, Paymaster and the Valuation Office agency are considering whether to become symbol users.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what discussions his Department has had with other Government Departments following the publication of the figures showing percentages of bills paid late in 1994–95. [12223]

[holding answer 29 January 1996]: The Treasury has an ongoing dialogue with other Government Departments and commercial organisations on a range of procurement-related topics, including bill payment. Lessons learnt during these discussions can result in the adoption of more efficient methods of working for all concerned.The Treasury is a signatory to the Confederation of British Industry code of payment.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will instruct the retail prices index advisory committee to assess whether the retail prices index takes sufficient account of (a) quality change new versions of products, (b) totally new products and (c) a formula bias arising from overweighting of items entering the index at temporarily low prices; [12692](2) if he will instruct the retail prices index advisory committee to assess whether

I have no plans at present to convene the retail prices index advisory committee. However, a recent report by Nicholas Oulton of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, commissioned by the Treasury, looked at many of these issues in detail. This report, "Treasury Working Paper 68: Reliability and Accuracy in UK Price Indices", which was published in March 1995, is available in the House of Commons Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what factors have led to the imposition of VAT on disabled individuals purchasing computer equipment; [12691](2) if he will

There have been no changes in the application of VAT to computer equipment for disabled people. Such equipment, when designed solely for disabled people's use, is zero rated. General purpose equipment is, and always has been, liable at the standard rate. There has been no need to consult because there has been no re-interpretation of the law.No directives on the liability of computer equipment have been issued by Customs and Excise. A copy of customs notice 701/7/94, "VAT reliefs for people with disabilities", has already been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what has been the average annual rate of growth of Britain's gross domestic product (a) since the first quarter of 1990 and (b) since the first quarter of 1979. [12596]

The average annual rate of growth of Britain's real GDP—gross domestic product at constant factor cost—between the first quarter of 1990 and the fourth quarter of 1995 was 1.1 per cent. Between the first quarter of 1979 and the fourth quarter of 1995, the average annual rate of growth was 2 per cent.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what percentage of (a) manual and (b) non-manual (i) male and (ii) female part-time workers work less than (1) eight hours, (2) 16 hours and (3) 24 hours in each borough in Lancashire. [12839]

It is not possible to provide data for county boroughs.Information showing hours worked by part-time men and women in Lancashire is given in the table.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the amount of debt per household for every £100 of disposable income at the last date for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement. [12024]

There are no official estimates of the financial assets and liabilities of the household sector. Estimates for the personal sector—which includes households, individuals, private trusts, unincorporated businesses and non profit-making bodies serving persons—are published by the Central Statistical Office in table 12.2 of the "UK National Accounts", known as the "Blue Book", which is available in the Library of the House. At the end of 1994, the personal sector had financial liabilities worth £524 billion, financial assets worth £1,656 billion, and non-financial assets worth £1,419 billion, implying total net wealth of £2,551 billion. Personal disposable income in 1994 was £473 billion. So, for every £100 of disposable income, the personal sector held £111 of financial liabilities and had total net wealth of £539 at the end of 1994.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what mechanisms exist to ensure public notification occurs in respect of changes in the moratorium on the export of land mines. [12761]

Any change to the UK's moratorium on the export of anti-personnel mines would be notified to Parliament, as was the change announced on 15 March 1995 by my hon. Friend the Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Official Report, columns 860–63.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the annualised average temperature for mainland Britain for each of the years 1990 to 1995; and what recent estimates he has made of the historic average mean temperature since records began. [11238]

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Meteorological Office. I have asked the chief executive to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on military deployment to the former Yugoslavia. [13420]

The deployment of British armed forces to the NATO-led peace implementation force, IFOR, in Bosnia is now complete.By carefully matching the manpower required to the tasks which have emerged, we have been able to deploy a smaller number of troops than the estimate of over 13,000 reported in my statement to the House of 12 December

1995,

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to announce the order for the next batch of type 23 frigates. [12858]

An announcement will be made as soon as the decision has been taken.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the total amounts of chemical weapons and precursor stocks, by location, held by his Department. [12861]

No. The UK has not had an offensive chemical weapons capability since the 1950s. Items dating from the 1950s and before are discovered from time to time and taken to the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment for safe destruction. Small quantities of scheduled chemicals are held for purposes permitted by the chemical weapons convention; on security grounds, information about their quantity and location is safeguarded.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if Mr. David Hart has a role in his Department's postings and personnel selections. [12862]

No.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prisoners who attended hospital for confinement in each of the past 10 years (1) have (a) succeeded in escaping and (b) attempted to escape, (i) one hour before, (ii) two hours before, (iii) three hours before, (iv) four hours before and (v) five hours before their delivery and (2) have (a) succeeded in escaping and (b) attempted to escape (i) one hour after, (ii) two hours after, (iii) three hours after, (iv) four hours after and (v) five hours after their delivery. [8547]

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 discussions his Department has had with the Whittington Hospital NHS trust in respect of its concerns over the practice of handcuffing and chaining women prisoners; [9493](2) when his Department learnt that the Whittington Hospital NHS trust had expressed concern at the practice of handcuffing and chaining pregnant women prisoners. [9494]

[holding answer 15 January 1996]: This matter was first raised with the Prison Service on 31 August 1995, when the chief executive of the Whittington hospital wrote to the governor of Holloway prison. There has been further correspondence since then.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish all correspondence between the Whittington hospital and HMP Holloway concerning the handcuffing of women prisoners during visits to the hospital; and if he will make a statement. [11642]

[holding answer 24 January 1996]: The temporary Director General of the Prison Service has reviewed the policy on the application of physical restraints to prisoners attending hospital, particularly pregnant prisoners and my right hon. and learned Friend announced this policy to the House on 18 January, Official Report, columns 893–94.Copies of correspondence between the Whittington hospital and Holloway prison about this subject will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the death of Alton Manning on 8 December in Blakenhurst prison. [12094]

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 advice has been issued to police forces by the Home Office recommending that the carrying out of police checks on voluntary school helpers be discontinued; and if he will make a statement. [12302]

No such advice has been issued. The relevant guidance on the criteria which justify carrying out a criminal record check on people working in schools, whether as paid employees or as volunteers, is currently set out in Home Office circular 47/93. This states that, in order for a person to be subject to a police check, the post for which he or she is applying

"should entail a substantial level of access to children which may also be unsupervised, and will be regular or sustained."

These criteria were first agreed with the Association of Chief Police Officers in 1986 and have not changed.

	Contractor	Contract started	Length of contract	Original contract price
Wolds	Group 4	1 April 1992	5 years	£29.87 million: estimate over 5 years when contract awarded
Blakenhurst	UKDS	26 May 1993	5 years	£57 million
Doncaster	PPS	20 June 1994	5 years	£66 million
Buckley Hall	Group 4	14 December 1994	5 years	£33 million

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the estimated outstanding repair and maintenance bill of each women's prison for each year since 1985; and what was the actual spending on maintenance and repair at each prison in each of those years. [11493]

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 in respect of each private prison (a) the contractor, (b) the date the contract commenced, (c) the length of the contract, (d) the original contract price and (e) the projected cost of the contract including start-up costs and all other costs incurred by the Prison Service. [12768]

[holding answer 30 January 1996]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 women were admitted to prison in each year since 1979; and what was (a) the total budget for women's prisons in each of those years and (b) the actual amount spent per prisoner.[11496]

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 was the total amount spent by police force area on awareness campaigns on domestic violence for each year since 1990. [11495]

This information is not collated centrally. Spending on domestic violence issues is an operational matter for chief officers of police.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the number of reported incidents of domestic violence by police force area for each year since 1990; and how many resulted in (a) prosecution and (b) conviction. [11497]

Information is not available on the number of domestic violence incidents resulting in prosecution or conviction. Available statistics on the number of domestic violence incidents by police force area relate to the calendar year 1993 and the financial year 1994–95 and were provided in a reply I gave to the hon. Member for York (Mr. Bayley) on 7 November 1995, columns 823–24. Her Majesty's inspectorate of constabulary is in the process of collecting more reliable data.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will place in the Library a copy of the recent report by LEK consultants, comparing the costs of running private prisons with public sector prisons. [12765]

[holding answer 30 January 1996]: Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 on how many deaths in police custody in each year an inquest verdict has been brought in of (a) natural causes, (b) misadventure or accident, (c) drug addiction or alcoholism, (d) suicide, (e) unlawful killing and (f) open verdict; and in how many cases no inquest was held. [11931]

The available information is published in the annual Home Office statistical bulletin entitled "Police Complaints and Discipline, England and Wales" and, for the Metropolitan police district, in the annual report of the Commissioner of Police. Copies of both publications are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have died in police custody (a) in total and (b) by police force area in each year since 1990. [11487]

This information is published in the annual Home Office statistical bulletin entitled "Police Complaints and Discipline, England and Wales" and, for the Metropolitan police district, in the annual report of the Commissioner of Police. Copies of both publications are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the ethnic origin of each prisoner who has died in police custody since 1990. [11488]

This information is not at present collected centrally but the present procedures are being amended as from April 1996. It will thereafter be published annually in the Home Office statistical bulletin entitled "Police Complaints and Discipline, England and Wales" and, for the Metropolitan police district, in the annual report of the Commissioner of Police.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what guidance he has issued to police forces in the use of control and restraint procedures. [11489]

Home Office circular—number 62/1992—deals with the use of handcuffs by police officers. The Association of Chief Police Officers issues, guidance on self-defence and restraint.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what measures his Department will take to improve conditions at Holloway prison; and what extra resources will be made available for this. [11514]

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 was (a) the maximum number of inmates permitted at Her Majesty's prison Holloway and (b) the highest prison population for each year since 1990. [12266]

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 allocation of funds for education at Her Majesty's prison Holloway he expects to make in 1996–97. [12268]

Responsibility for this matter has been delegated to the temporary 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 representations he has received covering the provision of education in Her Majesty's prison Holloway; and if he will make a statement. [12271]

My right hon. and learned Friend and I have received representations from the board of visitors at Holloway on this matter. Her Majesty's chief inspector of prisons also raised his concerns with me and with the temporary Director General of the Prison Service following his unannounced visit to Holloway in December 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list all programmes which his Department funds that are aimed at deterring under 16-year-olds from committing crimes; and if he will make a statement. [12723]

The bulk of the Home Office funding in this area was transferred to the single regeneration budget at the Department of the Environment in April 1994. This budget supports many crime prevention activities with a youth focus. The Home Office programme development unit funded a small group of experimental projects on reducing criminality in 1992; final reports are expected shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on licensing arms exports to the states of the former Yugoslavia. [11993]

[holding answer 26 January 1996]: UN Security Council resolution 1021 established a timetable for phased lifting of the arms embargo on former Yugoslavia. Light weapons can be imported 90 days after signature of the peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina—that is, from 13 March—and the embargo will be lifted completely 180 days after signature and after submission of a report from the UN Secretary General on the arms control negotiations called for in the peace agreement—that is from 11 June. The Government have decided that, taking into account the overall situation in the states of the former Yugoslavia and the paramount importance of ensuring the safety of British and other troops deployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, applications for arms export licences will be dealt with on the following basis:

(a) for Slovenia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, applications for licences to export military equipment listed in group 1 of part III of schedule I to the Export of Goods (Control) Order 1994 and dual-use goods will be considered on a case by case basis;

(b) for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia our policy is not to allow the export of military equipment listed in group 1 of part III of schedule 1 to the Export of Goods (Control) Order of 1994 during the period of the NATO-led implementation force's deployment. Against the background, applications for export licences will continue to be considered on a case by case basis, as will applications for export of dual-use goods.

The Government will encourage our EU and other partners to take a similar approach, and keep this policy under review, particularly in the light of progress in implementing the peace agreement for Bosnia and Herzegovina.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the advantage of extending the scope of the laser weapons protocol to include civil war conflicts; what measures he proposes to improve the transparency and verification arrangements; and if he will make a statement. [12757]

In common with other western countries, we support the extension of the scope of the 1981 UN weaponry convention protocols on both laser blinding weapons and land mines so that they apply also during non-international armed conflict. We also support the inclusion of effective transparency, compliance and verification arrangements. We shall pursue these questions at the concluding session of the weaponry convention review conference in Geneva from 22 April to 3 May.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will discuss with his Indian counterparts their policy towards the laser weapon protocol, with particular reference to its extension to cover civil war conflict; and if he will make a statement. [12758]

We intend to hold discussions with a number of countries before the final session of the 1981 UN weaponry convention review conference in Geneva from 22 April to 3 May with a view to securing the extension of the scope of the convention's protocols on land mines and laser building weapons to non-international armed conflict.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) if he will name the Guatemalan police officers who have been trained in Britain since 1985, specifying each officer's rank and the date of commencement and of completion of the training; [12517](2) if he will name the Guatemalan police officers who have undergone study tours to the United Kingdom since 1985, in each case specifying the officer's rank and the date of commencement and of completion of the training. [12518]

I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Stretford (Mr. Lloyd) on 27 November 1995, Official Report, column 429. We have no record of any Guatemalan police officers being trained or attending study tours in the United Kingdom since 1985. However, we have offered a place for one police officer to attend the overseas command course at Bramshill in 1996.

Individual insolvencies in the United Kingdom
Year	England and Wales		Scotland	Northern Ireland
	Bankruptcy orders1	Total2 individual insolvencies	Sequestrations3	Bankruptcies4	Total personal insolvency orders5
1985	6,730	6,778	298	150	150
1986	7,093	7,155	437	193	193
1987	6,994	7,427	808	134	134
1988	7,717	8,507	1,401	164	164
1989	8,138	9,365	2,301	238	238
1990	12,058	13,987	4,350	286	286
1991	22,632	25,640	7,665	367	369
1992	32,106	36,794	10,845	406	448
1993	31,016	36,703	6,828	474	541
1994	25,634	30,739	2,182	428	512
19956: Q1–Q37	16,726	20,044	1,749	306	358

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proposals have been put by the United Kingdom to the negotiations on a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. [12860]

We continue to negotiate actively for the earliest possible conclusion of an effective comprehensive test ban treaty. We have made it clear that in our view such a treaty should prohibit all nuclear weapon test explosions involving any release of nuclear energy.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the situation in Burundi; and what steps he has taken with the international community to prevent a further escalation of ethnic violence in Burundi and to support the legitimate Government. [12233]

We are seriously concerned about the deterioration of the political and security situation in Burundi. We continue to support efforts by the United Nations, the Organisation of African Unity and leaders in the region to promote political dialogue, reduce violence and ensure humanitarian assistance reaches those in need.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many bankruptcy orders were made in each region in the last 10 years. [9267]

The information is given in the table.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade when he intends to publish the Scott inquiry report; and if he will make a statement. [11643]

[holding answer 24 January 1996]: I expect the report to be published within the next few weeks.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what has been the total principal value of payments made by the Export Credits Guarantee Department to the Midland bank since 1980 in respect of trade with Jordan by (a) Astra Holdings and its subsidiaries, (b) British Aerospace and its subsidiaries, (c) Royal Ordnance and its subsidiaries, (d) Vickers and its subsidiaries, (e) Racal and its subsidiaries, (f) Plessey and its subsidiaries and (g) Thorn EMI and it subsidiaries. [11307]

[holding answer 24 January 1996]: The ECGD has no record of payments to Midland bank since 1980 in respect of capital goods and project business with Jordan by any of the named companies. The ECGD has, however, paid £11.2 million claims to Midland bank in respect of business by Airbus Industrie, to which British Aerospace is a supplier. In the case of its now-privatised short-term business the ECGD maintains no record of the supplier in cases where it has paid claims to banks.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the trade missions to (a) Burma and (b) Nigeria over the last five years which have been sponsored by his Department and organised in conjunction with his Department; how many are planned; and if he will list the companies involved. [12238]

(a) There have been no Department of Trade and Industry-supported trade missions to Burma in the last five years. The Department is supporting two missions in 1996:

(1) an Asia Pacific Advisory Group trade mission, 26 February-1 March 1996, and

(2) a British Electrochemical and Allied Manufacturers' Association (BEAMA) trade mission to Thailand and Burma, 24 June-3 July 1996.

(b) Since 1991, there have been 15 Department of Trade and Industry-supported trade missions to Nigeria:

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the total value to the British nuclear generation industry in 1995 prices of the price support mechanism for the sale of electricity generated from nuclear power in each year from 1980 to 1990. [12475]

Before 1990, the Central Electricity Generating Board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board were responsible for most nuclear generation in the UK. The accounts of those companies did not separately identify detailed financial information on nuclear generation.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money in 1995 prices it is expected will be raised from the nuclear levy from the present day until the removal of the levy.[12478]

The element of the fossil fuel levy that is attributable to Nuclear Electric will end at the time of privatisation, subject to the recovery of outstanding moneys due. It is not possible at this time to estimate the amount of money that will be raised in respect of this element from the present day, as this will depend on a number of factors that are still uncertain.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what changes have occurred in the respect of British Coal pensions funding arrangements between the publication of his Department's paper on proposals for British Coal pensions after privatisation and his answer of 24 October, Official Report, column 553. [12736]

Following the publication in September 1993 of the Government's proposals for British Coal pensions after privatisation, a number of changes took place to the arrangements governing the mineworkers pension scheme and the British Coal staff superannuation scheme. The modified arrangements took effect from 31 October 1994 and were described in some detail by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Industry and Energy, in his answer of 27 April 1994, Official Report, column 168. My answer of 24 October 1995 concerned the unrelated issue of British Coal's industrial death and retirement scheme.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what inquiries his Department undertook into the background of the directors of Character Ceramics, Falmouth, before making them a grant. [10111]

[holding answer 18 January 1996]: No inquiries were made. The Department considers making checks where the circumstances suggest that it would be appropriate to do so.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will list for his Department and each of the agencies for which he is responsible if it uses the Employment Service's positive about disabled people symbol for (a) external recruitment and (b) internal recruitment and promotion. [11925]

All the Law Officers' Departments seek to ensure that there is no unfair discrimination on the basis of disability. Although those Departments do not at present use the positive about disabled people symbol, the Crown Prosecution Service proposes to apply shortly for use of the symbol in relation to both (a) external recruitment and (b) internal recruitment and promotion. The Government property lawyers have undertaken preparatory work with a view to applying for use of the symbol in the near future, and the Treasury Solicitor's Department is also considering its use.

To ask the Attorney-General if the inquiries by the Ministry of Defence police and Strathclyde police into allegations made in the "Despatches" programme are complete. [12729]

The Crown Prosecution Service has received a report from the Ministry of Defence police and is awaiting the outcome of further investigations being carried out by Strathclyde police. The conduct and progress of those investigations are matters for my noble and learned Friend the Lord Advocate.

To ask the Prime Minister what estimate he has made of absenteeism rates in days per annum for staff in his Department for each of the years (a) 1979–80, (b) 1989–90, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1993–94, (e) 1994–95 and (f) 1995–96. [11365]

[holding answer 25 January 1996]: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Office of Public Service, on Tuesday 30 January.

To ask the Prime Minister what is his estimate of his Department's expenditure on newspapers and magazines in (a) 1993–94, (b) 1994–95 and (c) 1995–96, to date; and if he will list the publications purchased for the latest year for which information is available. [11457]

[holding answer 30 January 1996]: For this purpose, my office is part of the Cabinet Office. I refer the hon. Member to the reply given on 30 January by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Secretary, Office of Public Service. Figures for 1979–80 are not available on a comparable basis.

To ask the Prime Minister what action he is taking in respect of the Indian Government's plans to resume nuclear testing; and if he will make a statement. [12873]

The Indian Minister for External Affairs confirmed in Delhi on 19 December that India was not planning to conduct a nuclear test. We have welcomed this assurance.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what changes are proposed for the criteria for joint funding scheme project selection; and if he will make a statement. [12256]

Any changes to the criteria for the selection of projects under the joint funding scheme will be considered in the context of a forthcoming general review by the ODA of our relationships with non-governmental organisations. At this point, we do not envisage any substantial change, particularly to the primary objective of the scheme, which is to bring lasting benefits to the poorest people in developing countries. NGOs will be fully consulted in our review of these arrangements.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement on agricultural and farm incomes. [13226]

Total income from farming is estimated to have risen by 22 per cent. in real terms in 1995 compared with 1994. This increase is partly due to agrimonetary developments and to unusual weather conditions which, on balance, had a favourable effect on agricultural incomes. However, the Government's success in creating the right conditions for growth also played an important part. Detailed estimates of the income, output and productivity of United Kingdom agriculture in 1995 were published this morning and have been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fish farms throughout Northern Ireland have been granted exemption permits; what are the conditions of exemptions; and on what dates they were signed. [10669]

I have been asked to reply.A total of six fish farms in Northern Ireland have been granted permits exempting them from the obligations imposed by section 59 of the Fisheries Act (Northern Ireland) 1966, as amended. Conditions vary on each exemption issued and are site specific, but the underlying principle is that exemptions are issued subject to conditions which result in no diminution of the level of protection afforded to fish stocks. The dates of issue of the permits were 12 September 1994,3 April 1995,2 May 1995,16 May 1995—two—and 1 August 1995.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many fish farms in Northern Ireland were identified by the Fisheries Conservatory Board as not complying with the provisions contained in the Fisheries Act in each of the past two years. [10670]

I have been asked to reply.The information is as follows:

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how many abattoirs continue to operate either as (a) fully EC approved and (b) under temporary derogation; and by how much the overall total differs from December 1995. [10420]

The information for red meat abattoirs in England is set out in the table:

Licence status	Number of premises 1 December 1995	Number of premises 19 January 1996
EC approved	101	113
National market only
Permanently derogated low
throughput (no more than 20
livestock units per week)	119	140
Temporary derogated full
throughput (more than 20
livestock units per week)	122	107
Temporary derogated low
throughput (no more than 20
livestock units per week)	60	41
Total	402	401

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what the cost of chauffeur-driven cars used by his Department was in each of the past five years. [5854]

Expenditure by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in respect of chauffeur-driven cars for the financial years 1990–91 to 1994–95 is set out in the list.

• 1990–91: £234,430.21
• 1991–92: £289,972.83
• 1992–93: £294,921.47
• 1993–94: £264,662.21
• 1994–95: £223,697.49

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of the annual cost to his Ministry and his Ministry's agencies and non-ministerial public bodies of their empty and under-utilised properties for (a) 1979–80, (b) 1989–90, (c) 1991–92, (d) 1993–94, (e) 1994–95, (f) 1995–96 and (g) 1996–97. [11415]

[holding answer 30 January 1996]: Before 1 April 1990, the civil estate was managed by the Property Services Agency.The annual costs incurred by the Ministry and its agencies in respect of empty properties are as follows:

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his estimate of his Ministry's expenditure on newspapers and magazines in (a) 1993–94, (b) 1994–95 and (c) 1995–96, to date; and if he will list the publications purchased for the latest year for which information is available. [11417]

[holding answer 30 January 1996]: The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food's estimated expenditure over the past three years on newspapers and magazines, defined as scientific, technical and other highly specialised and general periodicals, is as follows:

• 1993–94: £624,000
• 1994–95: £623,000
• 1995–96: £481,000

The Ministry subscribes centrally to over 3,500 titles, and other records are maintained at a number of different locations. To provide a central list of publications purchased for the latest year for which information is available could be done only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food how much in (a) ecu and (b) pounds by standard region and in total is allocated to the United Kingdom from the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund under the present structural funds agreement.[11655]

[holding answer 29 January 1996]: The UK's allocation by objective and region in (a) ecu and (b) pounds sterling from the European agricultural guidance and guarantee fund under the present structural funds agreement—1994 to 1999—is shown in the table:

Region	Ecus	Pounds sterling
Objective 1
Merseyside	3	3
Highlands and Islands	56	47
Northern Ireland	187	158
Total UK	246	205
Objective 5a
UK	361	301
Objective 5b
South-West	41	34
The Marches	7	6
Midlands Uplands	2	2
Northern Uplands	23	19
Lincolnshire	9	8
East Anglia	11	9
Rural Wales	36	30
Borders of Scotland	4	3
Dumfries and Galloway	6	5
Central Scotland/Tayside	3	3