To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to his answer of 11 December, Official Report, columns 266–67, on police accommodation in Lambeth, when the strategic review of the provision of police accommodation was commenced; by whom it was conducted; what its conclusions were; and what actions have been taken as a result. [12376]

The Commissioner informs me that a review of police accommodation in Lambeth began in July 1996 to determine priorities for new police accommodation in the borough. It is being conducted by a police superintendent working to a member of the area senior management team.The review focused initially on a feasibility study into an alternative approach to the provision of custody accommodation in Lambeth and concluded that a centralised criminal justice facility would be a more effective alternative to a traditional police station on the Grafton square site. The term "criminal justice facility" has been adopted by the Metropolitan police to describe the proposed development. The development would house all the cells, and process the related administration, for the police stations in the borough of Lambeth. It would also include an identification suite, and a sector base and station office with facilities for pubic inquiries.This conclusion will affect other police accommodation needs in Lambeth, which are now being considered as part of the continuing review. Action to date has been confined to an amended planning application for the Clapham site.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress is being made towards introducing a national voluntary identity card; and if he will make a statement. [13070]

My right hon. and learned Friend announced on 22 August 1996 plans to introduce a voluntary national identity card. As set out in the Queen's Speech at the opening of Parliament, we intend shortly to publish a draft Identity Cards Bill for consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proposals he has to publish a Green Paper on the youth justice system; and if he will make a statement. [13199]

The ministerial group on juveniles has been considering what more can be done to identify children at risk of offending and to address the problems which put them at risk. The Government intend to publish a Green Paper shortly, setting out a strategy for early intervention with children and young people at risk of offending.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what percentage of his Department's budget has been spent on measures relating to crime prevention, per project, in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement; [13200](2) if he will make a statement on the proportion of his Department's budget which is spent on crime prevention measures. [13201]

Home Office expenditure specifically allocated to crime prevention in 1996–97 is £22.5 million. That figure is separate from, and additional to, public expenditure of £7 billion on the police service, an increase of more than 100 per cent. since 1978–79. The prevention of crime is one of the key functions of the police service.It is not possible to identify the level of public expenditure on the police service or other programmes within the Home Office budget which is devoted to crime prevention.As regards Home Office support for crime prevention projects, it is estimated that, since 1988, over 3,800 crime prevention measures have been initiated under the safer cities programme. There have been 365 successful bids in the first two rounds of closed circuit television challenge, in 1994–95 and 1996–97.Crime prevention projects have been funded under a number of other Government programmes which, since 1994, have been subsumed into the single regeneration budget.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage how many of the shortlisted bidders to run the British academy of sport she has visited. [13518]

None—deliberately.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what is her Department's latest estimate of the cost of millennium projects at Greenwich; and what are the projected increases in construction costs contained within that estimate. [10870]

This is a matter for the Millennium Commission. I shall write to the hon. Member in my capacity as chairman of the commission and place copies of my reply in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will list the grant in aid to the Arts Council for each year since 1993–94, together with the estimates for (a) 1998–99 and (b) 1999–2000, (i) in cash terms and (ii) indicating the annual change in each year in (1) cash, (2) real and (3) percentage terms. [13205]

£ million
	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99	1999–00
Cash	1189.15	185.99	191.13	186.13	186.10	184.60	183.49
Annual cash	—	(3.16)	5.14	(5.00)	(0.03)	(1.50)	(1.11)
change	—	(1.67 per cent.)	(2.76 per cent.)	(2.62 per cent.)	(0.02 per cent.)	(0.81 per cent.)	(0.60 per cent.)
1995–96 prices2	197.37	190.70	191.13	181.59	178.00	173.10	168.69
Annual "real terms"	—	(6.67)	0.43	(9.54)	(3.59)	(4.90)	(4.21)
change	—	(3.37 per cent.)	(0.22 per cent.)	(4.99 per cent.)	(4.1 per cent.)	(1.98 per cent.)	(2.43 per cent.)
Cumulative	—	(3.16)	1.98	(3.02)	(3.05)	(4.55)	(5.66)
cash change from 1993–94	—	(1.67 per cent.)	(1.05 per cent)	(1.59 per cent.)	(1.61 per cent.)	(2.41 per cent.)	(2.99 per cent.)
"Real terms"	—	(6.67)	(6.24)	(15.78)	(19.37)	(24.27)	(28.68)
change from 1993–94	—	(3.38 per cent.)	(3.16 per cent.)	(7.99 per cent.)	(9.81 per cent.)	(12.30 percent.)	(14.53 per cent.)
1 The Arts Council of England came into being in April 1994. The sum shown for 1993–94 is an estimate of that attributable to England from the grant in aid to the Arts Council of Great Britain.
2 Cash adjustment by GDP deflator (basis: 1995–96).

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what reports she has received on the United Kingdom sports sponsorship market for 1996; and if she will make a statement. [13996]

The Department's sports sponsorship consultant has recently submitted his annual report on the condition of the UK sports sponsorship market. This report confirms that sports sponsorship in the UK generated more than £300 million in 1996, a real-terms increase of some 19.3 per cent. over the corresponding figure for 1995. Most people are well aware of the major sponsorship deals agreed by football, rugby, and cricket, but I am particularly pleased to see from this report that there were a large number of sponsorships agreed in 1996 involving schools and young people, most notably British Telecom's support of school sports worth £750,000. This is an excellent example of the links called for in the Government's policy statement, "Sport: Raising the Game", issued in July 1995.The expansion in the UK sports sponsorship market is extremely good news for the sports sector, particularly given that this is additional to the thousands of national lottery projects being supported up and down the country.Furthermore, the sportsmatch partnership between sport, business and Government continues to flourish, and was responsible for an additional £6.4 million to the overall sponsorship market. A wide range of sports have benefited from this excellent scheme.

To ask the Attorney-General if he has received a report from Mr. Justice Kay regarding his decision to stop the trial of six men accused of the escape from Her Majesty's prison Whitemoor; and when he

The Arts Council of England has received grant in aid to fund its operating costs and grant programmes as follows:expects to decide whether proceedings for contempt of court will be instituted against the editor of the

I expect to receive a report from Mr. Justice Kay shortly and will consider it in conjunction with any representations which may be made on behalf of Associated Newspapers Ltd., publishers of the Evening Standard, the editor or the journalist responsible for the particular article. Once this material has been considered a decision will be taken.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will review the Landlord and Tenant Acts in the light of the recent judgment against Thames Ditton lawn tennis club. [12814]

We have no plans for a review, but we will keep a careful watch on any further developments in this case.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps are taken by his Department to ascertain whether greenfinches presented for export from the United Kingdom to (a) Malta and (b) the EU have not been taken illegally from the wild; and if he will make a statement. [12693]

[holding answer 27 January 1997]: My Department has no authority to check greenfinches presented for export. It is an offence to take greenfinches from the wild, and to possess or sell them, without a licence. If my Department receives information that such offences may have taken place or are likely to do so, full details are passed to the police, who decide what action to take.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was (a) the overall percentage increase or decrease in cash terms of the settlement for county councils in England in each financial year since 1979–80 and (b) the rate of inflation at the start of each of those financial years. [13424]

	Rate support grant	Block grant	Revenue support grant	Year on year percentage change in grant	Percentage change in GDP deflator on previous year
	(£ million)	(£ million)	(£ million)
1979–80	£2,231				16.7
1980–81	£2.703			+21.2	18.3
1981–82		£4,003			9.7
1982–83		£3,956		-1.2	7.1
1983–84		£3,973		+0.4	4.6
1984–85		£4,010		+0.9	5.0
1985–86		£3.832		-4.4	5.5
1986–87		£3,614		-5.7	3.0
1987–88		£3,846		+6.4	5.3
1988–89		£3,773		-1.9	6.7
1989–90		£3,471		-8.0	7.0
1990–91			(see note 2)		8.0
1991–92			(see note 2)		6.4
1992–93			(see note 2)		4.2
1993–94			£7,108		2.9
1994–95			£7,943	+11.7	1.8
1995–96			£7,324	(see note 3)	2.5
1996–97			£6,998	(see note 3)	2.5
1997–98			£6,173	(see note 3)	2.0
Notes:
1. The figures for 1979–80 and 1980–81 include cover in respect of districts.
2. From 1990–91 to 1992–93 revenue support grant for county areas was paid into the collection funds of district councils.
3 The figures for 1995–96 1996–97 and 1997–98 relate only to payments to the county councils as they existed in the relevant year. Local government reorganisation obscures meaningful comparisons of the change in grant for these years.
4. Figures for the period 1979–80 to 1989–90 are from the most recent edition of the rate support grant (England) report.
5. Redistributed national non-domestic rates are not included in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if health and safety inspectors have visited the port of Tilbury to examine the conditions for the landing, storage and subsequent carriage of imported ammonium nitrate; and if he will make a statement. [13535]

Inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive have not visited the port of Tilbury to look at this particular activity. However, a visit is scheduled for the week commencing 3 February to consider the land use planning implications of the storage of ammonium nitrate and to inspect the arrangements for its safe storage and transport.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment when he will publish the names of the authorities to be included in the programme for housing transfers by councils in 1997–98; and if he will make a statement. [14082]

I am today announcing the names of the authorities which will be able to proceed, on a voluntary basis and subject to the approval of their tenants, with proposals to transfer their housing stock to private sector landlords in 1997–98. Eight authorities will be

The information requested is in the table. From 1990–91, non-domestic rates have been pooled nationally and then redistributed between areas as a constant amount per head. These redistributed amounts are not included in the table.transferring all of their housing, amounting to almost 36,500 dwellings in large-scale voluntary housing transfers, generating capital receipts of over £350 million. A further nine authorities will be transferring a total of 18,572 dwellings with the aid of estates renewal challenge fund round 1 funding. The full programme involves 17 local authorities and over 55,000 dwellings.This reflects the Government's commitment to a continuing programme of transfers as a means of generating private finance to repair and improve the condition of social housing.The authorities which have gained a place on the programme, together with the intended recipient registered social landlord are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the (a) White Papers, (b) Green Papers, (c) consultation papers, (d) draft regulations and (e) circulars, for which his Department has been responsible issued in 1996 which his Department assesses could give rise, (i) directly and (ii) indirectly to significant environmental effects. [12702]

[holding answer 27 January 1997]: The 1996 FCO departmental report describes those activities of both wings of the FCO connected with the environment. On 20 December, a Command Paper on the measures adopted at the 19th consultative meeting of the Antarctic treaty was presented to Parliament, CM3483. The measures include the designation of specially protected areas and their management. On 1 November, section 7 of the Antarctic Act 1967 concerning the conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora came into force, No. 2666(C77).The ODA did not issue formal papers in the environmental area in 1996, but consulted widely on a variety of relevant issues such as forests and issued guidance papers. These include the July edition of the manual of environmental appraisal and, in August, guidance to staff, both diplomatic wing and ODA, on international environmental agreements. Copies of both are in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the forthcoming business in the Council of the European Union for February; and if will list the major EU events for the next six months. [13781]

The information is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has for future assistance to the Commonwealth Institute. [13913]

I value the work of the Commonwealth Institute and recognise the efforts it has made to modernise its operations, increase revenue and seek private sector investment. I am therefore pleased to confirm that we have decided to give the institute a grant in aid of £800,000 for the financial year 1997–98; and £600,000 for the year 1998–99. The question of funding beyond 1999 will be subject to normal public expenditure constraints and procedures. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will continue to support the institute's attempts to obtain further private sector investment.

Community initiative 1994–99	Number of applications received since 1994	Number of applications approved	Number of applications rejected	Number of applications still under consideration
Retex II	201	86	57	58
SME	437	63	67	307
Rechar II	1,509	575	557	377
Resider II	235	89	103	43
Total	2,382	813	784	785

The allocations to the UK for each of the four Initiatives are:
	£ million
(i) Retex II	26.71
(ii) SME	49.14
(iii) Rechar II	119.16
(iv) Resider II	33.18

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what research has been conducted by his Department on the effects an annual bidding competition for trade fair representation by United Kingdom companies will have on long-term planning by chambers of commerce and trade associations. [13409]

None.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what representations he has received concerning alcohol booster kits; and if he will make a statement. [10881]

I have received no representations on alcohol booster kits, other than a letter from my hon. Friend the Member for Saffron Walden (Sir A. Haselhurst), which was passed to the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food as the responsible Department.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many (a) successful and (b) unsuccessful attempts have been made by United Kingdom organisations in the last four years to obtain funds from the EU's (i) Retex, (ii) small and medium enterprises initiative, (iii) Rechar II and (iv) Resider II schemes: and what funds have been allocated to the United Kingdom under each of these schemes. [12343]

The European Commission's notices for the Community initiatives to which the hon. Member refers were published on 1 July 1994. The notices stated that member states' programmes should be sent to the Commission within four months. Because of the late adoption by the Commission of many of the programmes under these initiatives in the UK and throughout the EU, the first offers of grants were not made until the second half of 1995. The latest figures for project applications from UK local authorities and other bodies for these four initiatives are:The annual trade fairs bidding competition is a long-established mechanism. In the past, we have helped industry to plan ahead by undertaking to support some large—so called "core"—events for three years. I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Mr. Waller) on 17 January,

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how much money the United Kingdom currently spends per capita on export promotion; what is the European average; and if he will list the sums for each other EU country. [12863]

As shown in the latest British Overseas Trade Board annual report, the total cost of the overseas trade services during 1994–95 was £224.7 million, or £3.83 per capita.With regard to export promotion expenditure by other European countries, I refer the hon. Lady to the letter of 6 December 1995 from my right hon. Friend the Member for Richmond and Barnes (Mr. Hanley) to the hon Member for Gateshead, East (Ms Quin) a copy of which is in the Library of the House.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what further steps he intends to take to help United Kingdom firms succeed through exporting. [13995]

It is crucial that UK firms take full advantage of business opportunities overseas. The assistance available from Government under their overseas trade services can often play a vital role in this process.I am therefore publishing today a new range of menus which explain clearly and concisely how the OTS can help UK firms win in each of our top 80 export markets. The menus will enable business links and the OTS to provide export information assistance tailored to the needs of individual companies. It is part of the new "winning through exporting" family of business support. I have placed copies of this material in the Library of the both Houses. It is available on the Internet and will shortly be available on CD-ROM.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what is his policy in respect of receiving representations directly from the parties to a proposed merger which has been referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission in advance of the publication of the commission's report and his final decision; and if he will make a statement. [13296]

[holding answer 29 January 1997]: It is the task of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission to conduct a detailed and thorough investigation of any merger which has been referred to it. Accordingly, the policy of my right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade is not himself to receive representations from the parties to mergers prior to announcing his decision on the MMC's report and publishing it. While the report remains confidential, it would be inappropriate for Ministers' views to be influenced, or appear to be influenced, by lobbying by any particular interest. During an MMC inquiry, the parties are encouraged to make representations to the MMC and any representations received by the Department are forwarded to the MMC for their consideration. After the MMC's report is received, representations from the parties on the content of the report are not, except in exceptional circumstances, seen by a Minister until after the decision on the report is made.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (a) the NHS trusts which had a real retained deficit at the end of 1995–96 and (b) the size of the deficit recorded by each of these trusts in that year [12049]

Two NHS trusts, Central Scotland Healthcare and the Victoria Infirmary, Glasgow, had a retained deficit at the end of 1995–96. In both cases, the deficits occurred as a result of book losses relating to fixed asset disposals. Only one of these trusts, Central Scotland Healthcare, had an in-year deficit—£726,000—in 1995–96.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what discussions in 1996 and 1997 his Department's (a) officials and (b) consultants have had in connection with decommissioning of oil or gas installations in relation to the Oslo and Paris Commission; on what dates: and in what form. [12595]

Scottish Office officials have had many discussions, including interdepartmental discussions about the decommissioning of oil and gas installations. No consultants have been employed by the Scottish Office to consider this issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if the licence for disposal of Brent Spar No. 975—SOAFD re/No. FKB/296—signed on 9 May 1995 remains in operation. [12632]

The licence expired on 8 November 1995.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what application the (a) best practicable environmental option and (b) licence granted for disposal of the Brent Spar has outside British territorial waters. [12935]

In seeking approval to its abandonment programme for the Brent Spar, Shell UK Ltd. was required to undertake a best practicable environmental option assessment. This concluded that the BPEO was deep-sea disposal of the installation at a site within United Kingdom-controlled waters in the north-east Atlantic. The Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 licence applied only in respect of the designated disposal site.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will make a statement on the financial allocation to West Dunbartonshire council for 1997–98. [12819]

The grant aided expenditure assessment for West Dunbartonshire council for 1997–98 is £112.3 million, and provision of £13.7 million has been made for loan and leasing charges. Government support for the council's expenditure in 1997–98 is shown in the table.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what measures he proposes to improve energy conservation in the housing stock in Scotland. [12858]

The Home Energy Conservation Act 1995, which was introduced in Scotland on 1 December 1996, will promote conservation by requiring local authorities to draw up strategies to achieve significant improvements in energy efficiency in residential accommodation. Local authorities have been set a target of a 30 per cent. improvement over the next 10 to 15 years. For new homes, the building regulations are to be amended to include a requirement for an energy rating. This will also strongly encourage conservation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the numbers employed for the period September 1990 to 1995 inclusive expressed as whole-time equivalents and numbers, by gender and by ethnic status for the staff groups (1) chiropodists, (2) foot care assistants, (3) dietitians, (4) occupational therapists, (5) occupational therapy helpers, (6) orthoptists, (7) physiotherapists, (8) physiotherapy helpers, (9) diagnostic radiographers, (10) therapeutic radiographers, (11) radiographer helpers, (12) technical instructors in professions allied to medicine, (13) other professions allied to medicine, (14) optometrists, (15) pharmacists, (16) speech and language therapists, (17) assistant speech and language therapists, (18) whole-time chaplains, (19) assistant chaplains, (2) clinical scientists, (21) clinical psychologists, (22) clinical psychotherapists, (23) dental auxiliaries, (24) medical laboratory scientific officers, (25) laboratory support grades, (26) medical technical officers and assistants, (27) other professional and technical staff, excluding works staff, (28) administrative and clerical, (29) general managers, (30) senior managers, (31) maintenance, (32) health care assistants and (33) nursery nurses. [13240]

As the information requested is lengthy, I have arranged for it to be placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what plans he has for centres of excellence in Scotland similar to those in England, for the assessment and diagnosis of children with specific speech and language disorders; and how the planned provision in Scotland differs from that in England and Wales. [13472]

Health boards are responsible for assessing the needs of their residents with speech and language disorders and determining, with general practitioners, the services required to meet those needs and where to purchase them. Local authorities have the responsibility to meet the therapy needs of children with special speech and language needs.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what current research into specific speech and language disorders is being sponsored by his Department and its agencies. [13449]

The Scottish Office is currently funding four research projects into speech and language disorders. The information is set out in the table:

Title	Amount
Evaluation of the Phoniatric, Psychological and General Health Status Benefits of Speech	£120,300
Therapy in Patients with Dysphonia	(over three years)
Comprehension and Production of Explanations	£98,400
in Children with Language Impairment	(over two years)
Towards Effective Assessment of Right Hemisphere Language and Communication in	£109,800
Stroke and Brain Tumour	(over three years)
CLEFTNET SCOTLAND: Application of New Technology to the Treatment of Intractable Speech Disorders Associated with Cleft Palate	£90,000
Within a Scottish Context	(over two years)

In addition to these projects, the Scottish Office is part-funding an ear, nose and throat consultant within the Medical Research Council Institute of Hearing Research in Glasgow which is co-ordinating a multi-centre trial into the potential deficits following otitis media with effusion, also known as glue ear, in children which may include disorders of speech and language. The current phase of the trial will end in about 18 months time.The health services research unit in Aberdeen university, which is core funded by the Scottish Office, is undertaking a project looking at the problem of aphasia following stroke, by determining current practice and provision of speech and language therapy for sufferers, and assessing existing evidence about alternative forms of treatment. This project is due to end in March 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what proportion of the training of Scottish speech therapists is allocated to training in centres of excellence outside Scotland. [13448]

This information is not held centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is his estimate of uncollected arrears of poll tax and council tax for each local authority in total and as a percentage of each authority's current council tax revenue. [13537]

The table shows the amount of council tax councils have budgeted to collect for the current year and the available information on uncollected council tax and community charge income in total and expressed as a percentage of the amount budgeted to be collected for the current year. The available information on uncollected community charges and council tax includes uncollected water charges and is therefore not directly comparable with the amount of council tax which authorities budgeted to collect in 1996–97.

	(1)	(2)	(3)
Council	Amount of council tax budgeted to be collected for 1996–97	Total amount of uncollected1community charges, council tax and water charges	Column 2 as percentage of column 1
	(£ thousand)	(£ thousand)
Aberdeen City	49,634	21,085	42.5
Aberdeenshire	47,081	9,501	20.2
Angus	23,717	8,238	34.6
Argyll and Bute	22,901	12,234	53.4
Clackmannanshire	10,616	3,510	33.3
Dumfries and Galloway	31,034	8,106	26.1
Dundee City	36,499	21,560	59.1
East Ayrshire	24,945	16,480	66.1
East Dunbartonshire	28,341	11,520	40.6
East Lothian	21,596	13,373	61.9
East Renfrewshire	21,627	6,918	32.0
Edinburgh City	139,913	107,096	76.5
Falkirk	27,476	8,897	32.4
Fife	76,268	33,369	43.8
Glasgow City	145,985	203,671	139.5
Highland	47,669	23,024	48.3
Inverclyde	19,330	14,774	76.4
Midlothian	18,575	13,892	74.8
Moray	16,808	4,596	27.3
North Ayrshire	27,831	25,131	90.3
North Lanarkshire	67,714	16,493	224.4
Orkney	3,023	385	12.7
Perth and Kinross	34,144	7,887	23.1
Renfrewshire	40,879	30,135	73.7
Scottish Borders	20,993	5,256	25.0
Shetland	3,031	471	15.5
South Ayrshire	29,719	10,105	34.0
South Lanarkshire	68,696	50,805	74.0
Stirling	20,375	7,033	34.5
West Dunbartonshire	23,255	20,301	87.3
West Lothian	29,978	25,304	84.4
Western Isles	4,654	1,986	42.7
Scotland	1,184,387	743,156	62.7
Source:
1. 1996–97 Budget Estimate Returns.
2. October 1996 Council Tax and Community Charge Income Returns.
Notes:
1 Amount uncollected as reported by councils up to end October 1996.
The figures include uncollected council water charges and community water charges.
2 Excludes uncollected community charges which North Lanarkshire have been unable to supply.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the recommended facilities and staffing levels for a language unit [13471]

The Scottish Office makes no recommendations on these matters.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list (a) the NHS trusts which are currently forecast to show a deficit at the end of 1996–97 and (b) the size of the end-of-year deficit forecast for each of the trusts. [12051]

[holding answer 21 January 1997]: Fife Healthcare is the only NHS trust in Scotland projecting a retained deficit for 1996–97 as a result of a funding gap. The sum involved in £1.3 million and the trust chairman and the new chief executive are addressing it.Two other trusts are projecting retained deficits arising from the disposal of assets at less than book value.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what steps he is taking to increase public awareness of the complaints procedure in respect of NHS dentists; and in which languages information leaflets are published. [12845]

[holding answer 29 January 1997]: All dentists were provided with stocks of the leaflet and poster publicising the new NHS complaints system for display in their practice. The leaflet is available in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati and Cantonese.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what was the projected total amount collected from the fossil fuel levy in Scotland for the first year of its operation; and what is the total figure to date. [13283]

[holding answer 29 January 1997]: The Fossil Fuel Levy (Scotland) Regulations came into effect on 16 February 1996. The amount projected to be collected by the levy from then until 31 March 1997 was £4.7 million.Settlement of the amounts due to 31 March 1997 need not be made until the end of May 1997. The amount due to be collected so far is therefore not known.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how his Department has used the UK indicators for sustainable development in (a) the production of the Department's annual report, (b) monitoring progress towards meeting the objectives set out in the UK sustainable development strategy and (c) assessing the environmental implications of policy options; and what plans they have to extend their use in future within the Department. [12271]

The UK sustainable development indicators published in March 1996 are preliminary, intended to stimulate discussion about how we measure whether our development is sustainable. The indicators were developed to address and monitor the key sustainable development issues highlighted in the UK sustainable development strategy published in 1994. As such, they have been used to inform decisions about environmental priorities for action and work programmes in the year ahead, which will be reported in the annual White Paper on sustainable development.The indicators are one of many sources of information about the way in which economic activity interacts with the environment. As the indicators are revised and refined, they should become more useful as a source of environmental information to inform consideration of the environmental implications of policy options.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the number of (a) men and (b) women living in the United Kingdom who are over the age of 65 years. [12172]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many old age pensioners there are in Wales. [12546]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the number of deaths resulting from (a) AIDS and (b) motor neurone disease in the latest year for which figures are available. [12568]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what percentage of men aged 50 years or over were in full-time employment on 31 March for each year since 1980. [12551]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what was the proportion of full-time workers in (a) Scotland, (b) each of the former regional council areas of Scotland, (c) each of the new unitary local authority areas in Scotland and (d) Great Britain with hourly earnings in term of gross pay, both including and excluding overtime, below (i) £6.31, (ii) £5.89, (iii) £4.42 and (iv) £3.00 for the categories (1) male manual, (2) male non-manual, (3) all male workers, (4) female manual, (5) female non-manual, (6) all female workers, (7) all manual, (8) all non-manual and (9) all workers; [11715](2) what are the average weekly earnings (i) including and (ii) excluding overtime for part-time workers in

The latest information, from the April 1996 new earnings survey, is contained in tables which have been placed in the Library.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many abortions were performed nationally in each of the last eight quarters. [12042]

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met representatives of the housebuilding industry to discuss the employment status of building operatives; and if he will make a statement on the outcome of that meeting. [13594]

I arranged for my officials to meet representatives of the House-Builders Federation on 20 December 1996. I understand that they had a useful and constructive meeting at which the Inland Revenue was able to offer practical help for the federation's members with their reviews of the employment status of their workers. The House-Builders Federation will continue to be included in future consultations with the industry on employment status.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on his Department's plans to remove tax incentives to drive greater mileages. [13337]

I have nothing further to add to the reply that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan) on 16 January 1997 Official Report, column 449.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the recent Council meeting of the Economic and Finance Ministers of the European Union. [13994]

On 27 January, I attended the Economic and Finance Council of the European Union in Brussels on behalf of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.The Council discussed the Dutch Presidency's work programme for ECOFIN. This emphasised the need for budget discipline in the Community, co-operation to tackle unemployment and implement structural reform and measures to combat fraud.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his estimate of the annual cost of exempting the first £200 of income from savings and investments from income tax. [12797]

[holding answer 27 January 1997]: The full year cost at 1997–98 income levels of exempting from income tax the first £200 of income from savings and investments which are currently taxable is estimated to be around £0.5 billion. It is not possible to provide an estimate which takes into account tax-free savings instruments such as tax-exempt special savings accounts, personal equity plans and so on.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 18 December 1996, Official Report, columns 637–38, how many individuals who pay tax but do not pay national insurance contributions are pensioners or of pensionable age; and how many individuals pay national insurance contributions but do not pay income tax. [13019]

[holding answer 28 January 1997]: In 1996–97, there are 4.82 million individuals who pay income tax but who do not pay national insurance contributions, some 3.62 million of these are over pension age—65 for men, 60 for women; the remaining 1.2 million individuals do not pay NIC because their earnings or self-employment income is below the NIC threshold, but pay income tax because of their income from occupational pensions and investments. About 1 million individuals pay national insurance contributions but do not pay income tax.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the number of people in each region of the United Kingdom who earn below the average weekly wage by (a) gender and (b) age groups (i) under 20 years, (ii) 20 to 45 years and (iii) 45 to 65 years; and if he will make a statement. [12649]

[holding answer 29 January 1997]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the chief executive of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to arrange a reply to be given.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much uncollected tax was owed to the Inland Revenue at the end of the last financial year; and how much has been written off in each of the last five years. [13038]

[holding answer 29 January 1997]: The amount of uncollected assessed tax owed to the Inland Revenue as at the end of October 1995, the latest date for which figures are available, is £2,908.6 million or 3.3 per cent. of the net tax charged. This amount represents tax assessed and collectible but not paid as at the date.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue effect on the Exchequer in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 1998–99 of putting the taxation of trusts on the same basis as the taxation of individuals; and if he will make a statement. [13256]

[holding answer 29 January 1997]: I regret that the information as requested is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the revenue effect on the Exchequer in (a) 1997–98 and (b) 1998–99 of applying a 40 per cent. capital gains tax rate for interst in possession trusts; and if he will make a statement. [13257]

[holding answer 29 January 1997}: The capital gains tax yield is tentatively estimated to increase by around £50 million if a capital gains tax rate of 40 per cent. were applied to those gains of trusts which will be chargeable at 23 per cent. for 1997–98. The yield for later years would depend on future levels of capital gains. In practice, the revenue effect of such a change may be significantly different due to changes in taxpayers' behaviour.The circumstances of beneficiaries of interest in possession trusts vary. Some may not be liable to capital gains tax at all, while others may be liable at 40 per cent. on their personal gains. Applying a rate equal to the basic rate to all such trusts reflects this range of potential liabilities while at the same time avoiding the need for beneficiaries to become involved in making capital gains tax computations.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what proportion of gross domestic product has been spent on education in each year since 1991; and if she will make a statement. [13064]

The latest published time series presenting the data is as follows:

Year	Percentage of GDP spent on education
1991–92	5.1
1992–93	5.3
1993–94	5.2
1994–95	5.2
1995–96	5.1

This table covers public expenditure on education in the United Kingdom.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what policies have been introduced to bring down the jobless total in Lancashire since 1992. [13276]

As a result of sound macro-economic policies and a flexible deregulated labour market, unemployment has fallen over the last four years by over 1 million in the United Kingdom, and by nearly 24,000 in Lancashire.In order to help unemployed people obtain the jobs economic growth is now delivering, a wide range of employment and training measures are available both nationally and in Lancashire. From February, a total of 31 project work pilots—one in Preston, Lancashire—will help up to 100,000 people. In addition, a new contract for work pilot initiative in Lancashire, starting in April, will explore ways in which the talents of the private sector might be used to help more very long-term unemployed people back to work.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the number of people aged 25 years or under living in the York parliamentary constituency attending a Government-funded training scheme (a) currently and (b) at the same date in each of the previous five years. [13581]

Information on Government-supported training programmes is not available for people living in individual constituencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment for what reasons she has decided not to fund the demand-led element of further education colleges' funding beyond the autumn term in 1996 [13564]

My right hon. Friend has made no such decision. In the light of the unprecedented rate of expansion of the further education sector after the academic year 1994–95, she has requested the Further Education Funding Council for England to consider what steps are consistent with the containment of total expenditure in future years within the Government's planned levels of expenditure on further education. She will consider the council's advice on the available options when it is received.

To ask the Sectetary of State for Education and Employment which TECs have been converted to chambers of commerce, enterprise and training; and which TECs are currently applying for this status. [13590]

The TECs which have become chambers of commerce, training and enterprise are those in Milton Keynes and north Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Sussex, South Derbyshire, Oldham, St. Helens, Rotherham, Wolverhampton, Shropshire and Hereford and Worcester. Applications to form chambers of commerce training and enterprise have been received from local partners in Greater Peterborough, Wigan, Coventry and Warwickshire, and Norfolk and Waveney.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list all the (a) secondary schools and (b) primary schools in Kent that currently have grant-maintained status and the date on which each school achieved grant-maintained Status. [13423]