To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 19 February, Official Report, column 34, when he expects to announce his conclusions on the inclusion of asthma as a target area in the "The Health of the Nation". [29201]

In due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the measures he has taken to prevent conflicts of interest in biomedical research addressed by the Government bodies funding such research. [29562]

The Department is committed to maintaining high standards in the management of research commissioned by the Department through peer review and guidelines on good practice—the Department's code of practice for commissioning and managing research, introduced in 1992.Guidelines on the protocols that govern the operations of the national health service research and development programme, including conflicts of interest, have been issued to all those working within the programme. Under the guidelines members and the chairperson of NHS research and development commissioning groups are reminded of the need for impartiality in the commissioning of research and advised that they must declare a conflict of interest when one occurs and withdraw from the discussion.The main agency through which the Government support biomedical and clinical research is the Medical Research Council, which receives its grant-in-aid from the office of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list, for each of the last five years, the number of cases of research sponsored by Government agencies which have been shown to be fraudulent; and if he will list the estimated cost to public funds of that misconduct. [29564]

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many scientific research units in the United Kingdom supported by Government funds have held formal courses in the organisational ethics of scientific research in the past two years. [29559]

This information is not available centrally.Training carried out by research units is a matter for directors of the individual research units concerned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on liaison between his Department and private research charities about research fraud. [29565]

The Department gives a high priority to collaborating with other research funders to increase understanding of matters of mutual concern and to promote co-operation.We work closely with the Association of Medical Research Charities, which represents some 48 charities. The AMRC is also represented on the national forum which brings together a wide range of research funders and provides an important means of establishing closer links between research interests in the NHS and elsewhere.Within this framework, the guidelines for good research practice to which different research sponsors adhere are discussed and kept under review.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the procedure his Department follows when a case of suspected misconduct in medical research is reported to it. [30005]

Any allegation of misconduct in medical research reported to the Department would, in the first instance, be referred to the host institution for investigation in line with the clearly agreed terms of the contract signed between the Department and the research organisation.If necessary, following the outcome of the inquiry, the complaint would be referred to the relevant professional body for further investigation. The Department would ensure that it was fully informed of the result of these inquiries and would, if appropriate, terminate any contract in place at that time.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list for each of his Department's agencies, what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide and what were the results. [30119]

Since the "Competing for Quality" programme started in 1992–93, the Department of Health's four executive agencies have market tested activities with a total value of £10.68 million with resulting savings of £3.66 million. This is broken down by agency in the table.

£ million
Agency	Cost of activity before competition1	Resulting savings1
Medicines Control Agency	0.260	0.132
Medical Devices Agency	0.195	0.150
NHS Estates Agency	2.981	0.041
NHS Pensions Agency	7.248	3.339
1 Rounded up to 3 figures.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many whole-time equivalent (a) school nurses and (b) school doctors have been employed by the NHS in each NHS region in each of the last seven years. [28454]

[holding answer 15 May 1996]: The information relating to school nurses is shown in the table. School nurses provide health surveillance for children

NHS hospital and community health services qualified nursing and midwifery staff, excluding agency staff, working in the school nursing area of work by regional health authority in England at 30 September each year 1988 to 1994
Whole-time equivalents
	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994
England1 2	2,510	2,480	2,540	2,460	2,440	2,470	2,350
Northern	190	180	180	170	190	170	150
Yorkshire	180	190	180	170	170	180	180
Trent	270	270	260	260	250	290	280
East Anglia	80	90	90	100	100	100	90
North West Thames	200	210	210	170	140	180	170
North East Thames	200	220	220	200	210	210	210
South East Thames1	140	110	200	200	210	140	100
South West Thames	130	130	120	110	120	130	130
Wessex	130	120	120	110	110	110	100
Oxford	100	110	120	120	110	130	110
South Western	150	120	120	140	120	130	140
West Midlands	300	310	310	300	310	300	300
Mersey	190	180	180	170	160	150	140
North Western	250	230	230	240	250	250	230

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will urgently commission an inquiry into (a) the number of school nurses, (b) the provision of funds for training of school nurses and (c) the provision of a programme of incentives to encourage recruitment of school nurses. [29548]

The Health Select Committee is currently taking evidence on school health services in its inquiry into children's health.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by name the current general practitioner fundholders in the Easington constituency. [30213]

This information is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the percentage of the population served by general practitioner fundholders in each health authority in England. [30584]

The percentage of the population served by general practitioner fundholders in each health authority in England is given in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the future of the Heathway residential home in Seaham. [30215]

This is a matter for County Durham health authority, in discussion with Priority Healthcare Wearside national health service trust. The hon. Member may wish to contact the chairman of the authority for details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many HIV patients have been provided with IVF treatment in the United Kingdom; and if he will make a statement. [30237]

This information is not available centrally. The decision to provide fertility treatment to any particular patient is one for the clinicians involved, taking into account all the circumstances of the case. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 requires as a condition of any treatment licence issued under the Act that account be taken of the welfare of any child who is born as the result of treatment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list the chairpersons of each national health service trust hospital covering the Greater London area, indicating the annual salary paid to each for the year 1995–96. [30307]

Information on all appointments of chairmen and non-executive directors to national health service authorities and trusts, and the remuneration paid, will be published in the summer of 1996.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many persons get free repeat prescription contact lenses on the ground that they are susceptible to eye infections, for the most recent years for which figures are available. [30357]

Where a consultant ophthalmologist decides that a patient requires frequent changes of lenses on clinical grounds, the patient pays only for their first pair unless they are, in any case, entitled to help with national health service charges, in which case they can use their vouchers to help meet the cost. The number of patients who benefit from this provision is not available centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which bodies are responsible for checking the suitability of child care workers supplied by employment agencies. [30406]

It is the responsibility of each individual employer to ensure that people they employ to work with children are suitable for such work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU Health Council on 14 May. [29655]

The Council took note of a working document submitted by the Commission on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies and, after an extensive and constructive debate, agreed conclusions on action to be taken to understand better the pathogenesis and transmissibility of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and to extend epidemiological surveillance of the disease.The Council agreed a common position text based on the Commission's proposal for a decision adopting a programme of Community action on health monitoring, taking account of the European Parliament's opinion on that proposal.The Council confirmed that, as a number of European Parliament amendments to its common position text could not be accepted, the Conciliation Committee should be convened to reach agreement on a joint text for a decision adopting a programme of Community action on the prevention of drug dependence.The Council had a short orientation debate on the Commission's proposal for a decision creating a Community network for the epidemiological surveillance and control of communicable diseases and took note of action in hand to develop a global early warning system and response network for communicable diseases, within the context of the EU-US action plan which was agreed in December last year.There was a short discussion also of the Commission's amended proposal for a Council directive on the approximation of laws relating to the advertising of tobacco products and of a paper from the Italian presidency that explored possibilities for making progress with the proposal. The presidency concluded that it had not found the basis for a compromise.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information of a financial nature is required, under guidance issued by his Department, from a spouse who is a carer where the person receiving care, being the marriage partner, requests (a) domiciliary services and (b) respite care, from a local authority social services department. [29865]

Advice relating to these issues is in the Department's guidance to local authorities, "Charging for Residential Accommodation Guide", copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information of a financial nature is required, under guidance issued by his Department is required from a partner of a person to whom he or she provides care where the person receiving care requests (a) domiciliary and (b) respite care from a local authority social services department and where there is no marital relationship. [29866]

Advice relating to these issues is in an advice note on non-residential services, "Discretionary Charges for Adult Social Services", for use by the social services inspectorate, copies of which are available in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much additional funding is being accorded to North Manchester hospital emergency services to serve the June Euro 96 competition being held in Manchester. [30040]

Trusts are not funded directly by the Department but from contracts with purchasers. The hon. Member may wish to approach Professor Joan Higgins, chairman of Manchester health authority, for details.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many (a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30064]

The members of staff working centrally in the Department on deregulation issues are a grade 5, a senior executive officer, an executive officer and an administrative officer, a total of 2.5 whole-time equivalents. All are career civil servants. In addition, there is a network of officials around the Department, responsible for co-ordinating deregulation activities in their area of work—where appropriate in close consultation with people from the private sector. The budgeted expenditure for the unit in 1996–97 is £70,000.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collates on (a) chief executives and (b) senior managers who resign employment with one NHS employer and take up employment with another. [30411]

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many staff in (a) his Department and (b) the NHS executive have declared potential conflicts of interest over the last three years. [30431]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave the hon. Member for Leyton (Mr. Cohen) on 27 February at column 461.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what investigations (a) his Department and (b) the NHS executive have undertaken into conflicts of interests involving (i) trust board and (ii) health authority members. [30432]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 12 July 1995 at column 552.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collects on (a) debts owed to and (b) bad debts written off by (i) trusts and (ii) health authorities. [30426]

The Department collects annual returns from each trust and health authority. Included in these returns is the total debtors for each body analysed in accordance with the current generally accepted accounting principles. Unaudited high level analyses are also collected in the year for management purposes.Prior to the 1995–96 annual returns trusts did not separately analyse bad debts written off. The 1995–96 annual returns will show bad debts and claims abandoned analysed by private patients, overseas visitors and others.Prior to the 1995–96 annual returning health authorities analysed bad debts and claims abandoned by private in-patients, private non resident patients, overseas visitors, Road Traffic Act claims and other. The 1995–96 annual returns will show the same analysis as trusts.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health which services previously provided by regional health authorities have been won by private contractors; and if he will list the contractors. [30430]

There is no information available centrally on all services previously provided by regional health authorities. The table lists the former regional health authority trading agencies which are known to have been transferred to the private sector since 1989.

RHA Service	Company
South and West
Swift IT services	EDS
IT services (Wessex)	AT and T Istel/Hoskyns
Estates department	MRM
West Midlands
Computer services	AT and T Istel
Legal Services	Lewington Partnership
Payroll services	Hartshead Solway
Parkfields Sterile Supply	CCL Industries
Northern and Yorkshire
Legal Services	Hampsons
Financial Services	Hartshead Solway
Architects' department	Fletcher Joseph Partnership
Computer services (Northern)	AT and T Istel
Quantity surveying	Beard Dove
IT services (Yorkshire)	Anderson
Architects' services	Fletcher Joseph Partnership
Engineering services	DSSR
Quantity surveying	Edmund Shipway and Partners
Anglia and Oxford
IT services	SEMA
Legal services	Mills and Reeve
Design services	Roughtons
Mandeville Medicines	Chapter Ltd.

RHA Service	Company
Oxford Consortium	CSC
Architects' department	Bickerdyke Allen and Partners
Engineering services	Couch. Perry and Wilkes
Surveying services	Davies, Langden Everest
North West
Legal services	Hampsons
Professional Data Care	SMS (UK) Ltd.
Estate services	EML
South Thames
Estates Design and Management (EDAM)	Capita
Project management services (capital)	AYH
Architects' department	MRM
Engineers' department	Gregory
HCR and SE Computing	Hoskyns
North Thames
Signet Computer Centre (NE Thames)	Data Med/HBO
IT Services (NW Thames)	SEMA
Trent
Computer services	AT and T Istel
Engineering Department	Mala and Pearce Design Group
Quantity Surveying	Beard Dove

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collates on patients who refuse discharge from NHS care. [30428]

None.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many NHS trusts have (a) a chairman, (b) a chief executive and (c) a board of directors; [30250](2) how many NHS health authorities have

All 429 national health service trusts and 100 NHS health authorities have chairmen and chief executive posts, and they all have a board of executive and non-executive directors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information his Department collates on management and administrative spending by individual trusts and health authorities. [30429]

For national health service trusts, information is collated on management and management consultancy spending and non-clinical administration spending as defined by the Audit Commission and circulated to trusts under circular FDL(95)32. For health authorities, information is collated on health authority costs as defined in circular FDL(96)20. Copies of FDL(95)32 and FDL(96)20 will be placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his answer of 14 May, Official Report, column 419, what information his Department collates about consultants. [30438]

The annual medical work force census gathers data, as at 30 September each year, on consultant vacancies by specialty. These refer to posts which were vacant for whatever reason on the actual day of collection, including, for example, vacant posts in the process of being filled.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health in which health authorities trials were conducted on the effectiveness of the drug beta interferon for sufferers of multiple sclerosis; on how many patients; and over what period. [30313]

Such information is confidential. Section 118 of the Medicines Act 1968 precludes the disclosure of confidential information received in pursuance of the Act.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if he will list those authorities which have (a) agreed and (b) refused to prescribe beta interferon to MS sufferers who are suitably fit to receive it; [30314](2) what guidelines have been issued to health authorities regarding the prescription of the drug beta interferon to MS sufferers. [30315]

Executive letter (95)/97 issued to health authorities in November 1995 suggested that, where it is clinically appropriate to prescribe beta-interferon to treat multiple sclerosis, it should be prescribed by hospital neurologists. The guidance was accompanied by clinical advice from the Standing Medical Advisory Committee. Decisions about prescribing in individual cases are a matter for clinical judgment.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many health authorities have failed to meet their efficiency index targets in each of the last two years. [29669]

[holding answer 16 May 1996]: 1993–94 and 1994–95 are the last two years for which final figures are available. The national efficiency index targets were applied at regional health authority level for these years and they all achieved them.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what account was taken of the place of residence of the individual granted legal aid in January 1996 (reference 06936J). [30039]

None. Legal aid is available for most matters justiciable in the courts of England and Wales, subject to the statutory tests of eligibility.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 21 May. [29028]

To ask the Prime Minister if he will list his official engagements for Tuesday 21 May. [29029]

This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House I shall be having further meetings later today.

To ask the Prime Minister (1) if he will arrange the withdrawal of (a) export licences and (b) export guarantees issued by the Export Credits Guarantee Department in relation to the supply to India by British Aerospace of Hawk aircraft and the transfer of technology enabling the production of Hawk aircraft in India; and if he will make a statement; [30145](2) if he will make representations to British Aerospace urging to cancel any agreement with the Government of India concerning the supply of Hawk aircraft and the transfer of technology enabling India to manufacture Hawk aircraft; and if he will make a statement. [30144]

No. I have nothing further to add to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister for Trade on 15 May, Official Report columns 942–43.

To ask the Prime Minister what action Her Majesty's Government have taken in the case of WPC Yvonne Fletcher, in relation to the statement of Colonel George Styles, Professor Hugh Thomas, and Home Office pathologist, Professor Bernard Knight, since the Adjournment debate on 8 May. [29290]

[holding answer 20 May 1996]: The investigation of crime is a matter for the police. As my right hon. Friend the Minister of State at the Home Department made clear to the House on 8 May, the Metropolitan police are aware of the television programme to which the hon. Member refers, and are reviewing its contents as part of their continuing investigation into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

To ask the Prime Minister if he will extend the conscience clause of the Abortion Act 1967 to non-NHS employees affected by abortion procedures. [30236]

The Government always encourage employers to give due consideration to their employees' beliefs and feelings, and to operate fair and objective disciplinary procedures. It has been a longstanding convention that the Government do not initiate change in legislation relating to abortion. It is open to Members of both Houses to introduce proposals for parliamentary consideration.

To ask the Attorney-General if he will publish in the Official Report his letter to the hon. Member for Jarrow of 10 May. [29729]

No. I have, however, placed in the Libraries of the House a copy of the letter to which the hon. Member refers.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 7 May, Official Report, column 45, how many respondents to the consultation on the Asylum and Immigration Bill (a) were in favour of the measures and how many against, (b) mentioned costs or burdens to business, (c) objected to the checking of documents other than national insurance and (d) suggested that compliance costs would be higher than those indicated in the compliance cost assessment. [29964]

[holding answer 17 May 1996]: A summary of 67 responses to the consultation document on the prevention of illegal working was made available to the House before report stage of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. It indicates that

Fifteen respondents indicated either support or opposition. Of these four respondents actively supported the particular proposals whereas 11 expressed clear opposition to the principle of employers making any checks on their new employees;

Twenty-seven respondents commented on costs or burdens to business in response to a specific question on compliance costs. Fifteen respondents suggested that compliance costs would be higher than those indicated in the compliance cost assessment. Ten said that they expected no, or very minimal, compliance costs and two indicated that in their view the assessment seemed reasonable.

Three respondents suggested that national insurance numbers should provide the sole defence for employers. Twenty-one respondents indicated that the checking of documents such as foreign passports would be more complicated or onerous, although five suggested that such checking should not be too difficult if written guidance and a telephone helpline were available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what his Department estimates will be the initial and annual cost per small firm of the implementation of clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. [29963]

[holding answer 17 May 1996]: The compliance cost assessment prepared last November estimated that the non-current costs of clause 8 will be £13,524,800. For a firm with under 100 employees non-recurrent costs were estimated to be £10.70. It was estimated that the total recurrent costs for all employers might be up to £11,451,200 or less than 68p per employee per annum, but no assessment was made of the proportion of those costs which might fall to small firms.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the cost to business of clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill; how much it will cost each year; and what estimate he has made of the cost to businesses with fewer than (a) 100, (b) 50 and (c) 20 employees. [29950]

The compliance cost assessment prepared last November estimated that the non-recurrent costs of clause 8 will be £13,524,800. For a firm with under 100 employees non-recurrent costs were estimated to be £10.70. It was estimated that the total recurrent costs for all employers might be up to £11,451,200 or less than 68p per employee per annum. No assessment was made of the proportion of the recurrent costs which might fall to firms of the sizes mentioned.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the cost of the proposed helpline on illegal working; how many people will staff the helpline; and when it will begin. [29952]

Details of how the helpline will operate are currently under consideration. Full information about the facility will be given to employers in the written guidance to be issued in due course.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what research his Department has carried out into the ease with which small employers can identify the documents required under clause 8 of the Asylum and Immigration Bill. [29948]

In our consultation document, we asked respondents, including representatives of small employers, to comment on this point.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the funding arrangements after March 1997 for projects funded by his Office under section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966; for what reasons there has been a delay in the announcement; and when he expects to be able to notify local education authorities of the arrangements. [29853]

The funding position from April 1997 remains under consideration. I expect to be able to let local authorities have more information shortly.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will establish a national register of persons convicted of offences of a violent nature against children; [30423](2) if he will establish a national register of persons convicted of offences of a sexual nature against children. [30422]

The national criminal records contain details of all those convicted of offences of a violent or sexual nature against children. In order to strengthen these arrangements, the Government are considering suggestions that convicted sex offenders should be required by law to notify the police of any changes of address. We plan very shortly to issue a consultation paper which will canvass these and other measures to improve public protection against sex offenders.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what arrangements exist under Home Office guidelines for unsolicited communication to local authority (a) social service, (b) education and (c) youth services departments of the termination of employment of those persons convicted of sexual and or violent offences against children. [30424]

The arrangements under which the police report convictions of employees to local authorities are set out in Home Office circular HOG 45/86 a copy of which is in the Library it is for the local authority concerned to decide on the action which it wishes to take.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he proposes to take to increase public scrutiny of project licence applications for experiments on live animals. [30374]

None. The Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 prevents disclosure of confidential information.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many small animals were bred in medical schools in the London area for research purposes over the past five years for which figures are available. [30373]

This information is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he proposes to increase the publicity given to procedures adopted by the Home Office inspectors overseeing experiments in live animals. [30375]

Public information is already available in the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, the guidance to that Act, and the annual statistics published by the Home Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the eligibility criteria for appointment to the Animal Procedures Committee; and how many lay-persons are included in the current membership. [30376]

The eligibility criteria for appointment to the Animal Procedures Committee are set out in section 19 of the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986. The current membership consists of nine scientists and veterinary surgeons, two academic lawyers, one academic philosopher and four animal welfarists.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans he has, in relation to the Europol convention, to appoint the data protection registrar to (a) the national supervisory body and (b) the joint supervisory body; and if he will list the countries which do not submit disputes concerning the convention to the Court of Justice of the European Communities. [29691]

Officials are in discussion with the data protection registrar over a number of aspects of the Europol convention and its implementation. These include the designation of the national supervisory body, members or representatives of which will comprise the United Kingdom delegation on the joint supervisory body.The Europol convention is not yet in force. On signing the convention, 14 member states made a declaration that they intended to refer to the Court of Justice disputes between them that were not resolved by the Council. The United Kingdom did not make such a declaration.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the implications of the Europol convention for the Data Protection Act 1984 in respect of powers of access of the Data Protection Registrar. [29693]

Ratification of the convention will not require any amendment to the Data Protection Act 1984. Officials are discussing with the data protection registrar practical aspects of its implementation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he expects to come forward with proposals to allow for wider access to criminal records; if these proposals will include proposals to stop enforced subject access under the Data Protection Act 1984; and if he will make a statement. [29701]

The Government expect to publish a White Paper setting out our proposals for new arrangements for access to criminal record checks within the next few months.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he plans to include drink-drive offences on the Phoenix database on the police national computer. [30668]

The police will begin to record drink drive offences on Phoenix from 1 June. This will allow the police, for the first time, to have access to records of drink drive offences dealt with in forces other than their own. Such offences include driving or being in charge of a vehicle when under the influence of drink or drugs and failing to provide a specimen of breath when required to do so.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the interdepartmental review of fire safety legislation and enforcement and on the implementation of the general fire safety aspects of the EC framework and workplace directives. [30669]

The review was established to examine what scope there might be for rationalising relevant legislation and enforcement arrangements whilst maintaining or improving standards of fire safety. It found that there were overlaps in present legislation and enforcement arrangements which could impose burdens on business and create uncertainty. Consultation on the report showed that while there was general agreement that existing legislation should be simplified and made more coherent, there was no consensus on what precisely should be done to effect those improvements.In the light of the consultation exercise we have decided:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the actions taken by Her Majesty's Government to support efforts to initiate negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty as cited in paragraph 146 of the statement on the Defence estimates, column 3223; and if he will make a statement on the progress achieved to date in these negotiations. [29979]

We supported the mandate agreed at the conference on disarmament in Geneva in March 1995 for an ad hoc committee to work on a fissile material cut-off treaty banning the future production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices. We regret that it has not yet proved possible to start work on this issue. We continue to urge all members of the CD to agree to the early establishment of an ad hoc committee to begin negotiations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list, for each of his Department's agencies, what market testing has been carried out into the services they provide and what were the results. [30117]

There has been no market testing of the services provided by FCO agencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the British ambassador to the Council of Europe, on the proposals of the council of Europe Assembly, to up-date the computerisation of its services. [29997]

None so far, but the Council of Europe secretariat is elaborating a package of proposals to go into the 1997 budget. These proposals will draw on the report by the hon. Member and will be discussed with representatives of Governments in Strasbourg. Costs and priorities will need to be borne in mind during any such discussions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is Her Majesty's Government's policy in respect of each applicant for membership of the EU. [30003]

The Government welcome the prospect of EU enlargement and look forward to the applicant countries joining as soon as they are ready. We believe that each applicant should be treated on its merits. Applicants will have to meet the criteria for membership set out by the Copenhagen European Council in June 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions the Minister for Overseas Development has had with the Government of Ecuador about the shooting of female goats on those parts of the Alcedo area of the Galapagos Islands where giant tortoises breed. [28908]

There have been no discussions between the ODA and the Ecuadorean Government about shooting goats in the Galapagos Islands. The British ambassador in Quito recently visited the islands to see the problem caused by feral goats on Alcedo which threaten the survival of the population of giant tortoises. The ambassador has offered to donate £5,000 from the heads of mission gift scheme to the national park and to the Darwin Foundation for their programme to protect the tortoises. He is also examining the possibility of a contribution to the goat eradication programme from a FCO fund for small environmental projects.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the outcome of the EU General Affairs Council on 13 to 14 May. [29656]

The "A" points in document 7127/96, which will be placed in the Libraries of the House as soon as it is available, were approved.The presidency noted the resolutions adopted by European Parliament in document 6216/96, PE-RE 33 and drew attention to Nos. 8 (co-operation on EU fisheries with Morocco), 23 (outcome of Turin European Council), 24 (central and eastern Europe integration into internal market), 30 (Baltic sea co-operation) and 32 (economic and monetary union and social cohesion).The Council heard a progress report from the chairman of the consultative commission on racism and xenophobia, Jean Khan, about the comission's study on a possible EU observatory on racism and xenophobia.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last visited Gibraltar; and if he will make a statement about his policy towards that country. [29843]

I visited Gibraltar on 7 and 8 November 1995. I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) on 14 December 1995 at columns 753–54.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met Mr. Carl Bildt; and if he will make a statement about the progress of the reconstruction fo Bosnia. [29844]

My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary last met Carl Bildt at the EU General Affairs Council on 13 May.At the Brussels donors conference on 12 and 13 April, $1.25 billion was pledged for reconstruction projects for the remainder of 1996. United Kingdom bilateral programmes, aimed at restoring power and water supplies to both entities, are well under way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he last met President Tudjamn; and if he will make a statement about his policy towards the progress of democracy in Croatia. [29845]

My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary met President Tudgjman on 19 September 1995 in Zagreb.We continue to encourage the Croatian Government to bring about greater democracy in Croatia so as to achieve stronger political and economic relations with Europe and its institutions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries in the continent of (a) Asia, (b) Africa, (c) America, (d) Europe and (e) Australasia in which the United Kingdom has diplomatic representation indicating the level of representation, and by number and grade his Department's staff serving in these countries. [29846]

The information requested is published in "H.M. Diplomatic Service Overseas Reference List", a copy of which is in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the countries which are members of the Untied Nations in which the United Kingdom has no diplomatic representation. [29847]

The member states of the United Nations in which the United Kingdom has no resident diplomatic representations are listed in table 1. Those states in which an office has been opened but has no UK-based resident staff are listed in table 2.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the progress of democracy in Albania; and if he will make a statement about his policy towards that country. [29849]

The British Government have good relations with the Government of Albania. We believe that Albania has made good progress towards greater democracy since the fall of communism in 1992.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the likely date of the accession to the North Atlantic treaty of members of the former Warsaw pact. [29850]

NATO has yet to decide when to invite countries from the former Warsaw pact to join the alliance. NATO Foreign Ministers decided in December 1995 to consider the way forward at their meeting this December.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what is the annual budget for his departmental deregulation unit; how many staff it employs; and of these how many (a) are career civil servants and of what grades, (b) have been seconded from business, and (c) have experience of the private sector. [30058]

We are not directly involved in domestic deregulation policy and therefore have no deregulation unit or staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance the Government propose to make available to the British Council to help with its restructuring costs and to avoid overseas port closures. [30511]

I have today written to the chairman of the British Council informing him that my Department is prepared to meet 80 per cent. of the actual costs of redundancies among its grant in aid funded UK appointed staff this financial year. I propose to finance this from the Overseas Development Administration's contingency reserve. Since this reserve is higher than originally planned, this can be accommodated without affecting our ability to respond to foreseeable emergencies or reducing planned aid programmes. That part of the funding which serves aid objectives will be provided directly through the ODA vote. For the balance, I shall be seeking parliamentary authority later this year to make the appropriate transfer between the ODA and British Council votes.In my letter to the chairman I have also assured him that an additional £5 million in 1997–98 and £9 million in 1998–99 will be made available to the Council from within my departmental programme in order to avoid closures of British Council offices overseas to help sustain their programmes in priority countries and to contribute towards their continuing redundancy costs.The British Council will of course be continuing with their existing programme of efficiency savings.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what has been the total cost to date to his Department of renting property for use as British bases as part of the implementation force operations in (a) Bosnia and (b) Croatia; [29672](2) pursuant to his answer of 26 January,

[holding answer 17 May 1996]: A list of the major sites in Bosnia and Croatia currently occupied by British forces is as follows, together with the monthly charges where these have been established.Between January and April this year, my Department spend £665,000 and £688,000 on leases for all sites occupied in Bosnia and Croatia respectively.

Bosnia	Monthly charge £
Banja Luka—factory	38,000
Bosanski Petrovac—garage	5,000
Bugojno—factory	Not yet known
Glamoc—sawmill and factory	8,000
Gornji Vakuf—2 factories	44,000
Jajce—factory	6,000
Kljuc—depot	Not yet known
Krupa—factory	3,000
Kupres—various sites	34,000
Mrkonjic Grad—2 factories, sawmill and dam	Not yet known
Sanski Most—factory	8,000
Sipovo—3 factories, hotel and sawmill	Not yet known
Tomislavgrad-warehouse and other sites	42,000
Vitez—Bulk Fuel Installation (BFI) and school	3,000
Croatia
Split—3 factories and warehouse	243,000
Split—North Port and warehouse facilities	Not yet known
Trogir (near split)-Divulje Barracks	No charge

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his Department's policy on the recovery of munitions and other weapons from sunken Royal Navy ships; and what environmental monitoring is undertaken at such sites where it has not proved possible to recover military material. [29980]

Our policy, in normal circumstances, is to leave munitions and other weapons on Royal Navy wrecks undisturbed. However, recovery may be considered where sensitive technology is involved, or where there is a risk that the munitions may fall into the hands of terrorists, criminals or unfriendly foreign powers.Should munitions be disturbed in some way, consideration may be given to their recovery on a case-by-case basis, taking account, among other things, of the extent of any danger to the public, the potential risk to those who would be involved in the recovery operation, and technical feasibility.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) number of bottles and (b) value of stocks of (i) wine and (ii) spirits are held by (1) the Army, (2) the Royal Navy and (3) the Royal Air Force; and if he will make a statement. [29999]

The only stocks of publicly funded wines and spirits held by the armed forces are for use in cooking, as recipe ingredients. Details of the stocks held for this purpose are not maintained centrally. Spirits can be authorised for issue in special circumstances, but these are purchased only when required. Stock levels of wines and spirits purchased with non-public funds are a matter for individual messes and no central records are held.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the estimated cost of decommissioning the Polaris system; and from which subheads of which votes these funds will be taken. [29871]

Details of all costs associated with decommissioning or disposal of equipments and facilities connected with the Polaris programme are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The cost of the defuelling, de-equipping and day-up procedure for the four submarines is expected to total some £61 million; to be attributed to vote 2 subhead 2A21.Disposal of rocket motors and propellant is expected to cost some £2 million; to be attributed to vote 2 subhead 2F2.It is not our practice to reveal costs associated with the warhead.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster on what date he expects to publish the third competitiveness White Paper. [29955]

The Government plan to publish the third competitiveness White Paper in mid-June.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will list the deregulation orders which passed into law, indicating which of them affect firms with under (a) 100, (b) 50, (c) 20 and (d) 10 employees. [29959]

The deregulation orders which have passed into law are:

• The Deregulation (Greyhound Racing) Order
• The Deregulation (Building Societies) Order
• The Deregulation (Salmon Fisheries (Scotland) Act 1868) Order
• The Deregulation (Special Hours Certificates) Order
• The Deregulation (Fair Trading Act 1973) (Amendment) Merger Reference Time Limits) Order
• The Deregulation (Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976) (Amendment) (Time Limits) Order
• The Deregulation (Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976) (Amendment) (Variation of Exempt Agreements) Order
• The Deregulation (Length of the School Day) Order
• The Deregulation (Long Pull) Order

The first four orders are sectoral measures intended to assist all firms in those sectors, regardless of their size. The next three orders amend competition legislation and, again, could potentially benefit any firm regardless of size.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement on the progress of ethnic monitoring within the civil service. [29929]

Equality of opportunity in employment is vital to the effectiveness of the civil service and to good race relations. Ethnic origin monitoring data provides a powerful tool for identifying where barriers exist for the recruitment and advancement of ethnic minority staff. Since 1989 departments and agencies have been working to an agreed code of practice on collecting this information from entrants and existing staff, and they continue to do so. The programme for action on race, introduced by the Cabinet Office in 1990, provides a strategic framework for progress towards race equality in Departments and agencies, which includes monitoring. Regular reports on progress as regards equal opportunities across the civil service are published by the Cabinet Office and placed in the Commons Library. In the year to April 1995, the ethnic minority representation across the civil service rose to 5.4 per cent., which compares with 4.9 per cent. in the economically active population. Information for April 1996 is currently being compiled and will become available later in the year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many (a) serving civil servants and (b) retired civil servants have been appointed to the boards of privatised utilities. [30254]

There are currently no serving civil servants who are non-executive directors of any privatised utilities on the list of non-executive directors supplied to the Office of Public Service by Departments. Comprehensive information of this kind on retired civil servants is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the effects of Commonwealth sanctions on Nigeria; and if he will make a statement. [29848]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Sir J. Lester) on 9 May 1996 at column 211. If Nigeria does not respond positively to the Commonwealth ministerial action group's invitation to dialogue by the end of May, the group has recommended that Commonwealth countries adopt a package of measures broadly similar to those already taken by the EU.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports he has evaluated and what contacts he maintains with representatives of the self-styled Republic of Somaliland; what is the position of Her Majesty's Government with respect to that regime; and if he will make a statement. [29968]

Our embassy in Addis Ababa regularly reports on its contacts with the administration in north-west Somalia. Our position remains that the future of that region must be for the Somalis as a whole to determine.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs by whom the United Kingdom was represented at the Oslo conference in April to try to consolidate implementation of the 20/20 initiative; and if he will make a statement. [30123]

The United Kingdom was represented at the April Oslo conference on the 20/20 initiative by the ODA's principal finance officer, chief social development adviser, and an ODA economic adviser.The Oslo meeting agreed that donors should be prepared to support well-considered plans for enhanced spending on basic social programmes, and recognised that it was now for developing countries to put forward such proposals, initially through consultative groups and round table meetings.