To ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what consultations he has had with the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee concerning acceptance of railcards held by disabled people by automatic ticket machines; [15190](2) if he will make it his policy to seek to ensure that automatic ticket machines have facilities for accepting railcards held by disabled people. [15191]

The Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee has discussed this issue in its rail working group. Representatives of the Department and the Office of the Rail Regulator were present at those discussions.The Department will be pursuing this with the Office of the Rail Regulator in the context of the Rail Regulator's code of practice on meeting the needs of disabled passengers.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will review the law relating to parking near bus stops. [15351]

I have no plans to do so. The Government regard efficient enforcement of the existing law as more likely to improve compliance with waiting restrictions at bus stops than changes to the law.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his current estimate of the out-turn of the British Railways Board for 1996–97. [15398]

I hope to announce shortly the British Railways Board external finance limit consistent with my latest estimate of its out-turn.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what environmental impact assessment study has been prepared for the Newbury bypass under the provisions of the EC environmental impact directive; what information he has received in respect of the petition made to the European Parliament Petitions Committee concerning the environmental implications of this road project; and if he will make a statement on Her Majesty's Government's monitoring of environmentally based petitions presented to the European Parliament on matters arising in the United Kingdom. [15434]

The Government have taken the view consistently that directive 85/337/EEC on environmental impact assessment does not apply to projects such as the Newbury bypass, for which the formal development consent procedure was initiated before the directive came into force on 3 July 1988. In an announcement on 20 October 1995, the European Commission made it clear that it agreed with that view. The bypass scheme was, however, assessed carefully for its environmental effects in accordance with the Department of Transport's manual of environmental appraisal, which was the relevant guidance at the time.The Government have been informed by the President of the European Parliament about the petition made to the Parliament's Petitions Committee about the bypass.The Government are not informed routinely by the European Parliament of the content of petitions that it has received. It is for the European Parliament itself to decide how to handle such petitions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations he has received on the subject of reforming the current vehicle licensing and registration system to (a) prevent fraud and (b) enable (i) stolen vehicles and (ii) owners and drivers to be traced. [15421]

My Department maintains close contacts with representatives of the motor, finance, leasing, insurance and salvage industries and with the police with a view to developing ways in which the vehicle registration system can be better adapted to deter and detect vehicle fraud and other related crime.Following wide consultation we shall shortly be introducing new arrangements for recording the transfer of vehicles and for the annual notification of unlicensed off-road vehicles. These measures will help to improve the accuracy of the vehicle record and facilitate the tracing of drivers and vehicles for enforcement purposes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated of foreign initiatives on vehicle title and document fraud; and with what result. [15420]

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency maintains a register of vehicle keepers as opposed to owners because it is the registered keeper with whom the agency and police are normally concerned for law enforcement, revenue collection and road safety purposes.Accordingly, while the agency maintains close links with a number of foreign registration authorities, it has not commissioned specific research into initiatives on vehicle title and document fraud.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what is his current estimate of profits by companies previously owned by British Rail to be paid into public funds in 1996–97. [15403]

Up to 11 February 1997, dividends paid into public funds in 1996–97 in respect of the Secretary of State's residual holding of Railtrack shares amounted to £865,335.96.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many scheduled railway services were substituted by bus services during the week ended 18 January; for what reasons; and what penalty payments have been made by operators under their agreements with the franchising director. [15350]

The information is not available in the form requested. The Office of Passenger Rail Franchising monitors cancellations for franchised services. If an operator cancels more than a set threshold, that is a breach of the franchise agreement and enforcement action may follow. Some operators are also subject to a performance regime with Opraf and are penalised for each cancellation. Bus substitutions as a result of planned engineering work are not usually subject to penalty payments.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of heavy goods vehicles on roads without an operator's licence vehicle disc but operating under the margin arrangement. [15380]

It is impossible to make any accurate estimate of the number of vehicles operated under the margin arrangements. Vehicles used by any licensed operator within their total authorisation limit for up to one calendar month do not need to be specified and thus do not need to carry a disc.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many heavy goods vehicles have been found to be operating without proper authorisation under the Goods Vehicle Operator Licensing Regulations during roadside checks in 1995 and 1996. [15381]

We have no separate figures for heavy goods vehicles found to be operating without a valid operator's licence.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many goods vehicle operators were successfully prosecuted in 1995 and 1996 for operating vehicles without authorisation under the Goods Vehicle Operator Licensing Regulations. [15382]

I have asked the chief executive of the Vehicle Inspectorate to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he has taken to ensure that the operator licensing details of heavy goods vehicles are ascertained at roadside enforcement checks. [15383]

It is one of a number of checks carried out by traffic examiners at each roadside vehicle check, and is followed up as part of routine enforcement action where necessary.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he has completed his consideration of proposals to impound illegally operated and dangerous heavy goods vehicles as indicated in his response to the Transport Committee's Fifth report in November 1996; and if he will make a statement. [15384]

We are still working on plans for a possible scheme for the impounding of illegally operated and dangerous heavy goods vehicles.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list each of the supplier companies to his Department for (a) anti-personnel mines and (b) anti-tank/armoured vehicle mines since 1979; and if he will list the countries to which these companies have exported mines since 1979. [13527]

Available records indicate that the following companies/organisations have, since 1979, met orders from my Department for:

(a) anti-personnel mines: Thorn-EMI, Royal Ordnance, the United States Department of Defence and Alliant Techsystems of the United States;

(b) anti-tank/armoured vehicle mines: Royal Ordnance, Hunting Engineering Ltd. Alliant Techsystems, the MLRS European Production Group, and GIAT Industries and SOFMA of France.

I understand that export licence records before 1991 are not readily available to the Department of Trade and Industry and could be researched only at disproportionate cost. An initial search by DTI of export licence records since 1991 has shown that anti-tank/armoured vehicle mine records are not immediately identifiable and I am advised that the research required to examine the records further could be undertaken only at disproportionate cost. It is clear from earlier research, however, that no mines considered to be anti-personnel mines at the time of export have been exported for over a decade. Records available in my own Department, which may not be definitive, indicate that mines considered at the time of export to fall into one or other of the two categories identified have been exported as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which company booked the Farnborough site for the Copex—contingency and operational procurement exhibition—internal security exhibition, between 30 September and 2 October; and if he will make a statement. [12562]

I understand that SBAC has entered into a contractual arrangement with British-American Promotions Ltd., and that the Copex exhibition will take place in September 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress his Department has made in reviewing the files with Public Record Office class marks ES1/653 and ES1/654 with a view to opening them. [14387]

The review has been completed and the files are to be released to the Public Record Office.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the advertised usage of Willsworthy range in the Dartmoor national park for live firing in the year ended December 1996, expressed by number of days; and how many days' firing took place. [15354]

The advertised usage of Willsworthy range in the Dartmoor national park for live firing in the year ending December 1996 expressed by number of days was 194. The number of days when firing actually took place was 109.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the advertised usage of Merrivale range in the Dartmoor national park for live firing in the year ended 1996, expressed by number of days; and how many days' firing took place. [15352]

The advertised usage of Merrivale range in the Dartmoor national park for live firing in the year ending December 1996 expressed by number of days was 121. The number of days when firing actually took place was 61.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the advertised usage of Okehampton range in the Dartmoor national park for live firing in the year ended 1996, expressed by number of days; and how many days' firing took place. [15353]

The advertised usage of Okehampton range in the Dartmoor national park for live firing in the year ending December 1996 expressed by number of days was 72. The number of days when firing actually took place was 36.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence by what method it is proposed to ensure that the contract for the replacement royal yacht is placed with a ship building yard within the United Kingdom: [15248]

On security grounds, the future royal yacht can only be designed and built in a British shipyard. An invitation to tender for construction of the vessel will be advertised in the MOD contracts bulletin in the usual way.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what to steps are being taken to facilitate the playing of rugby league football in the Royal Navy. [14253]

Those personnel who wish to play are offered encouragement and advice, and facilities are made available to them. Should enough people show an interest, consideration will be given to making rugby league an approved sport.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps have been taken to evaluate the possible causes of the cluster of CJD and suspected CJD cases in Kent; and if he will make a statement. [15259]

The national Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance unit monitors the incidence of CJD throughout the United Kingdom, including the possibility of significant clusters of cases. Its analysis of the distribution of cases of CJD has never found any convincing evidence of clustering.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he has taken to help the elderly during the winter months in each of the last three years; and at what cost. [15388]

The Department is the major contributor to "Keep Warm Keep Well" campaigns. A breakdown of costs for the past three years is shown in the table. In previous years, the Department of Social Security—lately the Benefits Agency—has made contributions; the total expenditure column is inclusive of its contribution.

£000
	Total expenditure	DSS contribution
1995–96	578	125
1994–95	568	45
1993–94	510	60

To ask the Prime Minister what estimate he has made of the employment impact of the implementation by British companies of the EU works council directive agreed under the EU social chapter. [15020]

I refer the hon. Member to the speech I gave at the European Policy Forum in Brussels on the 4 February, a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what action he has taken to assess the additional costs to local government of concentrations of refugees seeking or having been granted asylum. [14963]

The Secretary of State for Health has established special grants to help local authorities meet the additional costs they face in respect of asylum-seeking families with children, and in respect of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. He laid before Parliament yesterday a special grant report to establish a new special grant for adult asylum seekers who are not accompanied by children. Local authority social services departments must provide detailed information on costs when submitting claims for any of these grants.

	Rent arrears at 31 March 1995	Percentage of rent roll	Arrears outstanding at 31 March 1995 for:		Empty council homes at 1 April 1995	Percentage of dwellings
	(£000)		Council tax (£000)	Community charge (£000)
City of London	256	4.2	1—	1—	24	1.1
Camden	8,986	10.7	12,379	22,095	543	1.8
Greenwich	14,984	19.6	6,494	9,737	795	2.5
Hackney	32,675	31.6	4,588	10,470	3,894	9.8
Hammersmith and Fulham	6,553	15.1	6,752	7,186	343	2.1
Islington	16,072	16.0	1—	1—	1,483	4.0
Kensington and Chelsea	2,351	9.4	4,672	5,083	108	1.4
Lambeth	19,491	19.8	40,172	75,423	2,176	5.1
Lewisham	7,482	9.3	1—	1—	1,051	3.0
Southwark	26,160	20.8	10,811	25,290	1,129	2.1
Tower Hamlets	3,987	5.5	4,156	5,437	1,562	4.2
Wandsworth	4,362	6.7	2,091	181	508	2.4
Westminster	3,100	6.0	4,110	67	263	1.7
Barking and Dagenham	942	2.0	1,440	1,558	427	1.6
Barnet	1,401	3.8	6,678	10,281	124	0.9
Bexley	505	2.5	1,679	2,644	139	1.6
Brent	13,750	29.3	8,892	26,035	301	1.8
Bromley	0	0.0	1,963	1,944	5	6.3
Croydon	2,208	4.7	5,392	4,246	265	1.6
Ealing	10,809	19.1	1—	1—	210	1.3
Enfield	4,037	9.9	8,815	8,396	342	2.2
Haringey	20,318	33.4	1—	1—	303	1.5
Harrow	793	3.6	3,595	4,787	108	1.6
Havering	561	2.2	1,506	3,628	219	1.6
Hillingdon	933	2.2	4,857	6,586	159	1.2
Hounslow	2,483	7.1	4,087	15,618	333	2.0
Kingston upon Thames	507	3.0	1—	1—	97	1.7
Merton	1,168	4.5	3,211	4,238	89	0.9
Newham	7,886	13.6	12,052	24,397	735	2.8
Redbridge	1,142	5.0	1—	1—	515	7.6

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his statement of 3 February, Official Report, columns 681 and 689, concerning special grants to localities most in need of assistance due to concentrations of refugees, what discussions he has had, or intends to have, with representatives of the areas concerned. [14956]

Ministers from my Department and the Department of Health as well as officials from the Department of Health have met local authority representatives on a number of occasions in recent months to discuss funding for local authorities who are supporting asylum seekers.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the size of the green belt in (a) 1979, (b) 1983, (c) 1987, (d) 1992 and (e) at the current date. [14691]

We do not keep records of the size of the green belt on an annual basis. Figures are available for England for 1979, 1989 and 1993. In 1979, there were 7,125 sq km of green belt land. This more than doubled in 1989 to 15,485 sq km and reached 15,557 sq km in 1993.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the levels of (a) uncollected rents from council properties, (b) uncollected council tax, (c) uncollected community charge, and (d) empty council homes in each London borough. [14693]

The latest available information is as follows:

	Rent arrears at 31 March 1995	Percentage of rent roll	Arrears outstanding at 31 March 1995 for:		Empty council homes at 1 April 1995	Percentage of dwellings
	(£000)		Council tax (£000)	Community charge (£000)
Richmond upon Thames	1,062	5.5	1,887	4,056	246	3.2
Sutton	1,265	5.2	1,215	1,555	76	0.8
Waltham Forest	2,404	6.6	8,134	16,656	465	2.9
1 No information was published by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy for these authorities.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the implementation of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 in cases involving itinerants and (a) Wealden district council, (b) Lincolnshire county council and (c) Wolverhampton borough; and what measures he proposes to make provisions in respect of itinerants and trespassers more effective. [15096]

Sections 77 to 79 of the Criminal Justice and Public Order 1994 give local authorities powers to evict unauthorised campers. The High Court quashed an eviction order by Wealden district council in 1995 because the local authority had failed first to make inquiries about the campers' housing and social needs. The court allowed Lincolnshire county council's eviction order to stand because the authority had made sufficient inquiries. In the Wolverhampton borough council case, the judge said that the 1994 Act powers were intended to offer a "robust and speedy" means of eviction, although local authorities should give careful consideration before exercising them. I believe that local authorities which use the powers responsibly; and in accordance with advice in my Department's circular 18/94, "Gipsy Sites Policy and Unauthorised Camping", should be able to evict successfully when it is in the public interest to do so. The Government have no plans to amend the legislation, but have commissioned research to establish good practice.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will state his reasons and the precedents for top-slicing the costs of specific local government reorganisation from the general grant available to local authorities. [15011]

The reorganisation transitional damping grant scheme for 1997–98 will damp those council tax increases directly attributable to reorganisation that come above a threshold of £52 at band D. Such increases are not the result of the reorganised authorities' spending decisions. They occur where the pattern of spend in the past has not followed the standard spending assessment. The scheme is transitional and will protect council tax payers from increases above the threshold while the reorganised authorities adapt to their new circumstances.A similar scheme operated in 1996–97 and was also funded through a top-slice of revenue support grant. Since 1994–95, we have also paid SSA reduction grant to authorities whose SSA has been reduced by more than a certain threshold as a result of changes in the SSA methodology. The funds for this have been top-sliced from RSG each year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what considerations underpinned his policy as set out at paragraph 14 of the Government's response, to the House of Lords Select Committee report on freedom of access to information on the environment of 5 February, that the Government do not accept that information in a draft document should be withheld only if harm would result from its exposure. [15458]

It is reasonable that access to information, in a draft document or another form, should wait completion of work so that analysis and interpretation can proceed unhindered. This is provided for in paragraph 4(d) of the Environmental Information Regulations 1992, and elaborated in paragraph 53 of the guidance.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he has taken to help the elderly during the winter months in each of the last three years; and at what cost. [15389]

Our home energy efficiency scheme helps householders who are aged 60 or over, or who receive income-related benefits or certain disability allowances, to keep their homes more comfortable and energy efficient by providing grants for basic home insulation and energy advice. The following amounts in grant have been paid to householders claiming on grounds of age in each of the last three years:

• 1994–95: £40,374,000
• 1995–96: £65,871,000
• 1996–97 (to date): £27,074,000

In addition, we are providing funding for various energy saving trust programmes which may benefit elderly people. These include their pilot pensioners' energy plan to demonstrate how local authorities and private finance providers in partnership can help pensioners to make energy efficient improvements to their homes; the cavity wall insulation programme and the heating controls cash-back scheme. We are providing around £7 million for these programmes.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he has received preliminary reports from British Waterways and the Environment Agency examining individual waterways in response to the Government's conclusions to the review of British Waterways and agency navigation functions; and if he will make a statement. [15832]

British Waterways and the Environment Agency have submitted a joint report following a series of regional reviews of the river navigations under their control. I have placed a copy of their report in the Library.In the light of the regional reviews, BW and EA recommended further detailed studies. I have accordingly accepted the suggestion that BW and the agency undertake a detailed review of the division of responsibilities on the River Weaver. I have also invited BW to carry out a three-month study, in consultation with the agency, of the Great Ouse and the Nene to examine what it could do if it managed the navigation aspects of these two rivers. This study should cover, among other things, costs and benefits, environmental impacts and the views of all interested parties on such an arrangement.The report concludes that relationships between the two organisations are good and that BW and the agency are already working well together in many areas. The reviews have identified a number of steps that can be taken to improve this collaboration further. I endorse the organisations' efforts to identify efficiency gains, ways of working more effectively and means of providing service improvements.At the third annual inland navigation seminar on 4 December 1996, BW and the agency, together with the Broads Authority, created the Association of Inland Navigation Authorities. I support this initiative and look forward to it making a positive contribution across the range of navigation policy issues. I hope that BW and the EA will progress jointly their ideas to develop a national navigation strategy in consultation with the new association and the Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what was the total element of standard spending assessments related to fire services in the most recent year for which figures are available; and what was the annual spending of fire authorities within the same period. [15250]

[holding answer 11 February 1997]: The information requested is in the table:

£ billion
Year	Fire standard spending assessment	Revenue expenditure on fire
1993–94	1.139	1.204
1994–95	1.168	1.210
1995–96	1.168	1.260
1996–97	1.185	11,299
1997–98	1.237	—
Figures for 1993–94 and 1994–95 refer to fire and civil defence.
1 Budgeted.

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement about the television licence fee regulations. [15562]

I have today laid new consolidated television licence fee regulations before both Houses. These will:

(i) bring into effect the licence fees for the year commencing 1 April 1997, as announced on 18 December last year columns 591–92—the colour fee will be £91.50 and the black and white one will be £30.50;

(ii) extend coverage of a television licence to permit the installation and use of television in any mobile home, static or touring caravan, or other vehicle or vessel used by members of the household, subject to certain provisos; and

(iii) fulfil the Government's undertaking to stop sheltered housing schemes from being disqualified from the concessionary television licence arrangements simply because a small number of units within them have been purchased under the right-to-buy provisions of the Housing Act 1985.

The basic principle of the TV licensing system has always been that a TV licence is required for any place, vehicle or vessel in which TV is installed or used. The changes summarised in the following paragraph are designed to sustain the integrity and enforceability of the licensing system, to protect the BBC's income and to be fair and reasonable in applying the basic principle to the increasing use of television outside a household's main place of residence.Hitherto, the regulations have permitted a household's TV licence to cover all the TV sets at one place, vehicle or vessel, but no sets elsewhere, except in the comparatively rare case where such sets are powered by their own internal batteries. The regulations I have laid today extend the coverage of a TV licence in a number of ways:

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage what response she has received to her Department's new strategy for tourism, "Success through Partnership". [15829]

"Success through Partnership: A Strategy for Tourism" builds on the successful programme we have completed over the last two years, which has developed a closer working relationship than ever before between Government and industry. The recent report of the National Heritage Select Committee has helped to inform the development of this tourism strategy. The Government's strategy document has been warmly welcomed as a joint initiative with the industry.The strategy provides a clear statement of our objectives for the tourism industry and an agenda for future action. It represents a true partnership and involves key players from central and local government, tourist boards, the industry, trade and professional bodies and consumer groups. All have been fully involved in preparing and taking forward the strategy and are committed to developing tourism as a high quality, profitable and sustainable activity to realise the growth potential of the industry and the associated social and cultural benefits for the nation.The strategy covers six main areas:

To ask the Secretary of State for National Heritage if she will make a statement on the impact of Government tourism policy on (a) Suffolk and (b) Norfolk since 1987. [12722]

[holding answer 28 January 1997]: Norfolk and Suffolk have benefited from significant growth in tourism in the UK in recent years. The number of employees in the British tourism industry grew by approximately 24 per cent. between March 1986 and March 1996. In 1995, earnings from tourism were £38 billion—a record in real terms—and signs are that 1996 will be even better. The UK is now fifth in the world in terms of tourism earnings. The UK's domestic tourism earnings were £22.7 billion in 1995. Figures for tourism spend in individual counties are not available. However, domestic tourism spend in the east of England region increased from £490 million in 1987 to £960 million in 1995 and overseas visitor income increased from £183 million in 1987 to £566 million in 1995. International passenger survey figures show that the number of visits by overseas visitors to Norfolk increased from 164,000 in 1994 to 176,000 in 1995, and those to Suffolk from 129,000 in 1994 to 142,000 in 1995. Government support for the industry is channelled through the British Tourist Authority and the English Tourist Board.I am pleased to note that over £10.5 million of lottery funding has been awarded to Suffolk and Norfolk to date for projects to promote culture, heritage and the arts. Other Government programmes include a seven-year regeneration initiative launched last April in Lowestoft, which aims to improve and develop the local area, and also, to develop the tourism potential.London is one of this country's main draws for overseas visitors, and one of the main aims of the Focus London campaign, which has received £7 million of public funding over three years, has been to promote London as a gateway to the rest of the country. The Government are committed to encouraging overseas visitors to travel to all parts of the country. In 1995, the British Tourist Authority's British travel centre in London gave help and advice on travelling outside the capital to almost half a million overseas visitors. These initiatives will boost tourism in the regions and greatly benefit the employment prospects and wealth of those living locally.

To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what steps are taken (a) at the time of their appointment and (b) subsequently, to ensure that his Department is informed of company directorships held by judges. [14379](2) how many full-time judges at each level within the judiciary hold company directorships; and what guidance his Department issues to judges about the circumstances in which a conflict of interest arising from such a position might arise. [14369]

Full-time judges are advised before appointment that they should not hold commercial directorships during their service on the Bench, although some forms of non-commercial directorships may be acceptable. Subject to these general principles, each case is dealt with on its individual circumstances.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list for each of the last five years for which figures are available

The gross public expenditure to Kenya over the last five years has amounted to £166,493,000 broken down as follows:

	£ millions
1991–92	38,351
1992–93	37,514
1993–94	31,231
1994–95	30,214
1995–96	29,183

Major sectors of involvement have been, and continue to be, health and population, education, renewable natural resources, roads and small enterprise development.Over the last two years, there has been major expenditure—over £1 million—on each of the following projects:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assistance his Department is giving to Kenya to combat the effects of the water hyacinth in Lake Victoria; and if he will make a statement. [15228]

We are giving no direct assistance to Kenya to combat the effects of the water hyacinth in Lake Victoria. Assistance is, however, being provided by other donors, including the World bank and the European Union.

To ask the Chairman of the Catering Committee (1) if he will consult hon. Members about the location of designated no smoking areas in the Members' Tea Room; and if he will make a statement; [15174]

The Catering Committee keeps under constant review the policy regarding smoking in all Refreshment Department outlets, including, of course, in the Tea Room. In each of the last three years, hon. Members have had the opportunity to respond to the Refreshment Department's customer questionnaire, which welcomes comments on smoking policy. The results of the last survey were considered by the Committee at its meeting on 22 January. The Committee was encouraged by the fact that, based on the responses to the specific questions on smoking, the existing arrangements appear to have the support of a majority of respondents. Hon. Members may also make their views known throughout the year by using the comments books available in all outlets, which I read frequently.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is his policy as to when questions on statistics on illegal drug use are to be answered by (a) his Department, (b) the Department of Health, (c) the Home Office, (d) the Leader of the House and (e) other Departments. [14653]

[holding answer 6 February 1997]: Ministerial responsibility varies according to the information sought and the availability of data, as follows:

(a) The Office for National Statistics collects and publishes information on all deaths registered in England and Wales and codes cause of death.

(b) The Department of Health deals with medical and health aspects of drug misuse, and compiles information on drug addicts in index form. Data are available on the age and sex of the addict, drug used, injecting behaviour and agency type, at regional health authority level, and at district health authority level. They are published on an annual basis.

The Department of Health also compiles a variety of aggregated data on problem drug misuse. The data cover England and are published twice a year.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what guidelines exist for determining whether providing the answer to a parliamentary question would involve disproportionate cost; what steps are taken to ensure that officials do not avoid undertaking work on researching information for Ministers by wrongly claiming that the research would involve disproportionate cost; and what sanctions (a) have been and (b) could be imposed on officials in such circumstances. [15431]

Treasury Ministers aim to answer written parliamentary questions as fully as possible and in accordance with guidance on disproportionate cost. Ministers may decline to answer, in whole or in part, a written parliamentary question where the marginal cost of preparing the answer is likely to exceed the current advisory limit of £450. The decision to use this cost threshold rests with Ministers, who may decide that questions should be answered irrespective of cost.I am not aware of any instances where officials have sought to make improper use of the threshold. If officials were to do so, this would be an internal matter for the Department concerned.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many and what proportion of people aged under 25 years are (a) in full-time employment, (b) in part-time

Persons aged 16 to 24 years: at spring (thousands)
	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Full-time employment1
Yorkshire and Humberside	346	283	269	235	233	213
England	3,170	2,738	2,471	2,319	2,257	2,166
Part-time employment1
Yorkshire and Humberside	69	86	81	89	87	93
England	732	769	778	842	853	966
Full-time education (with a job)2
Yorkshire and Humberside	49	54	45	55	62	63
England	521	534	485	589	596	682
Full-time education (without a job)
Yorkshire and Humberside	96	112	117	130	132	143
England	906	1,101	1,131	1,191	1,247	1,172
Government-supported training and employment programmes
Yorkshire and Humberside	28	27	27	23	21	17
England	231	196	188	174	144	125
Note:
1 Excludes Government-supported training and employment programmes.
2 Included in employment estimates.

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 if his letter of 3 April 1996 to the director general of the House Builders Federation constitutes Government policy on exemptions to the landfill tax; to what extent the policies in that statement were implemented in the Landfill Tax (Contaminated Land) Order 1996; and if he will make a statement. [13595]

[holding answer 30 January 1997]: I assume that the letter to which my hon. Friend refers is the one written by my right hon. Friend the Member for Wells (Mr. Heathcoat-Amory) when he was Paymaster General. In paragraph 3 of the letter, my right hon. Friend said

"We now intend to provide the exemption for waste from the clearance of historically contaminated land where clearance of all or part of the contamination is necessary to allow the land to be used for the intended purpose when the development or work on the land is complete. The exemption will apply to waste arising from the reclamation of the land, but current polluters will not be able to benefit from it."

He went on to say in paragraph 5

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will provide a breakdown of the spending by his Department on external advice in relation to the Scott inquiry, indicating how much has been spent on legal advice and from whom it was obtained. [14539]

[holding answer 6 February 1997]: The amount spent by my departments on external advice, including legal advice, in relation to giving evidence to the Scott inquiry and the preparation of the Government's response to it, is £83,740. Of this figure, the cost of legal advice amounted to £74,080, which was the cost to Customs and Excise of external legal advice obtained from two firms of solicitors, Lewis Silkin and Clifford Chance, including the cost of legal advice to counsel required to provide evidence to the inquiry in relation to the Customs prosecutions being examined. The balance of the figure was incurred by the Treasury for general consultancy services of a non-legal nature.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals would be affected if relief for pension contributions were to be limited for income tax purposes to the standard rate; and what would be the total extra tax raised. [14869]

[holding answer 10 February 1997]: The estimated full year yield of restricting income tax relief for pension contributions to the basic rate at 1997–98 income levels would be about £880 million. Some 2 million taxpayers would be affected. This is based on a projection of the 1994 survey of personal incomes and other survey data in line with the assumptions in the Budget forecast. It does not take account of any behavioural effects which might result from such a change.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his answer of 4 February, Official Report, column 565, what was the date on which the decision was made to audit and certify all National Savings accounts. [15254]

[holding answer 11 February 1997]: The decision to audit and certify all national savings product accounts was taken on 20 May 1994.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment he has made of the January rise in German unemployment on (a) progress towards European convergence and (b) United Kingdom growth prospects. [15364]

[holding answer 11 February 1997]: German claimant unemployment rose 510,000 to 4,658,000 in January 1997. On a seasonally adjusted basis, it rose 160,000 to 4,317,000. The Government take the view that it is unlikely, although not impossible, that there will be sufficient convergence for economic and monetary union to proceed safely on 1 January 1999. The UK recovery is broadly based and growth is forecast to continue to be faster than in our major European competitors.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what requirements are placed upon food manufacturers regarding the labelling of iron content of bread; and if he will make a statement. [14995]

If the flour used in bread making contains no added ingredients other than the statutorily required nutrients such as iron, then the addition of these nutrients need not be declared in the ingredients list of pre-packed bread. If any other ingredient is added to the flour then all the ingredients added to the flour, including the nutrients such as iron, must be declared in the ingredients list of pre-packed bread.These labelling rules do not apply to non pre-packed bread.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what measures he has taken to reduce the contamination of the habitats of birds and wild mammals from herbicides and pesticides; what studies have been (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated by his Department into the effects on habitats of pesticides and herbicides; and what assessment he has made of the impact of habitat depletion and contamination on wild birds in the United Kingdom. [15064]

The direct impact of each pesticide product on birds and wild mammals is assessed before an approval for that product is granted. Advice on the protection of wildlife and their habitats is provided particularly through the Code of Practice on the Safe Use of Pesticides on Farms and Holdings.Details of current Government research were provided in my reply today and by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment on 17 December 1996,

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the consequences for the numbers and varieties of song birds of the range of arable incentive schemes proposed by his Department. [14674]

The Ministry's agri-environment schemes encourage agricultural practices which are sympathetic to the requirements of song birds. We have also recently introduced new payments for retaining winter stubbles and undersowing arable crops with grass in two environmentally sensitive areas; and we have announced proposals for a pilot scheme as part of countryside stewardship to test the most effective arable farming methods to protect wildlife species such as farmland birds. On the basis of advice from English Nature and environmental bodies and of published research, these measures should bring significant benefits for song birds in England.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assessment he has made of the summer use of (a) organophosphates and (b) pyrethroids on the numbers and range of songbirds. [14675]

The Department of the Environment and English Nature, on behalf of the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, are funding a review of the available information on the indirect effects of pesticides on farmland birds. I understand that the results will be published later this year.The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is also funding relevant research which was listed in the reply given to him by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Environment on 17 December

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) if he will list those countries which benefit from the EU fisheries agreements with third countries, including their respective share of such agreements by weight of catch and value; [14828](2) what share of EU fisheries agreements with third countries has been appointed to the United Kingdom in each year since 1986; [14829](3) if he will list those third party countries which have fisheries agreements with the European Union. [14832]

Much of this information is not available in the form requested and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost. I refer the hon. Member to the answers that I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for South Hams (Mr. Steen) on 28 October and 7 November 1996, Official Report, columns 52 and 660 respectively, which provided details of current fisheries agreements between the European Community and third countries.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what was the United Kingdom contribution in (a) sterling and (b) percentage terms to the cost of EU fisheries agreements with third countries for each year since 1986; [14830](2) what was the cost in sterling of the EU fisheries agreements with third countries in each year since 1986. [14831]

Details of the cost to the EU budget of fisheries agreements with third countries are given in the table.

Cost of EU fisheries agreements with third countries
	ECU (million)	£ (million)
1986	55.6	36.0
1987	81.9	58.9
1988	139.5	94.6
1989	161.5	105.7
1990	173.0	122.8
1991	171.4	119.9
1992	195.6	138.4
1993	188.9	148.5
1994	140.6	107.7
1995	158.1	127.7
19961	270.0	226.7
1 Budget appropriation. Final outturn expenditure figures not yet available.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will support the recommendations of the House of Lords Select Committee on the European Communities in its Third report of Session 1996–97 on third country fisheries agreements, HL 28, that the recipients of EU fisheries agreements with third countries should pay a greater share of the cost of such agreements. [14833]

The Government welcome this timely and balanced report and will provide a full and considered response in due course. I made it clear in my oral evidence to the sub-committee that I consider it reasonable that those fishermen and member states benefitting from fisheries agreements with third countries should contribute a greater share of the costs.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what information he has received concerning the possible contamination of drinking water by waste discharged from Canterbury Mills, Thruxted, Kent; and if he will make a statement; [15260]

Drinking water quality is the responsibility of the Secretary of State for the Environment and of the drinking water inspectorate. The local water company, Mid Kent Water, confirms that its tests show that water supplies taken from the area are of the highest chemical and microbiological standard. The tests are subject to stringent analytical quality control and independent scrutiny by the drinking water inspectorate.This Department has received a copy of the draft report of the risk assessment carried out into waste water disposal options at Canterbury Mills and the possible effect on the quality of drinking water. The Environment Agency has commissioned studies into the possible effects of waste water disposal arrangements at Canterbury Mills and has made these available to the planning inspector for use during the public inquiry now underway to determine a planning application by Canterbury Mills.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (1) what evidence he plans to submit to the forthcoming public inquiry relating to planning proposals for a new underground water drainage system adjacent to Canterbury Mills, Thruxted, Kent; and if he will make a statement. [15262]

This Department prepared a statement regarding the operation of Canterbury Mills rendering plant in the context of animal health legislation, to the planning inspector on 10 January 1997 for use at the public inquiry. A copy is being placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food when his Department first received evidence of the possibility that cows from Wyke Farms of Somerset were source of Salmonella gold coast infection; and if he will make a statement. [11793]

[holding answer 22 January 1997]: Epidemiological evidence first linked an outbreak of Salmonella gold coast to the consumption of cheese produced at Wyke Farms on 14 December 1996.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will make a statement about the methods used to monitor the efficiency of each Government Department in answering parliamentary questions, with particular reference to the expected lengths of time to answer questions and the action taken in the case of excessive delays. [14902]

Each departmental Minister is responsible for answering the parliamentary questions put to them in a timely manner.

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what measures his Department has taken to ensure that each Government Department's information systems will be millennium compliant; and if he will make a statement. [15132]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to the hon. Member for Workington (Mr. Campbell-Savours) on 9 December 1996, Official Report, column 4 and to the reply given to Lord Stallard on 27 January by the Under-Secretary of State for Defence, column 963.The integrity and continuity of government information systems are essentially the responsibility of individual departments. However, the Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster have personally ensured that all ministerial heads of Department and permanent secretaries are aware of the problem and are implementing plans of action in relation to their computer systems and that all Departments plan to complete the work in time—

To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what assessment he has made of the costs of the proposals set out in the Green Paper, "Government Direct"; and if he will make a statement. [15072]

The scale of investment required has not yet been fully determined. However, the proposals will not involve capital investment of public funds. The Government's private finance initiative will allow the private sector to provide services of the type outlined in the Green Paper. Money to pay the contractors would come from part of the savings in the cost of government administration.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what progress has been made with the initiative to introduce a medal for prison officers recognising exceptional bravery in the course of their work. [14670]

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

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the presence of an officer with a sub-machine gun in Mansell street, Whitechapel, at midnight on 3 February; [14834](2) if he will make a statement on the arming of police officers with sub-machine guns in London. [14835]

I understand that an officer armed with a carbine was carrying out counter-terrorist duties in the Mansell street area. The officer was part of a patrol exercising powers under section 13A of the Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989 to stop and search vehicles and their occupants for articles which could be used for terrorist purposes. The weapon was not a sub-machine gun, but a carbine specially adapted to fire only one shot at a time. Such carbines are one of a number of weapons available for general issue to members of the City of London police tactical firearms group.The City of London police have no automatic carbines. The Metropolitan police have a small number of automatic carbines. These are to be issued only under the most stringent conditions and in the most exceptional circumstances. It would not be in the interests of security for me to discuss any further details about the circumstances or conditions under which these weapons might be deployed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many asylum applications are currently awaiting an initial decision by his Department's asylum directorate; and how many of these applications were made in (a) 1991 or earlier, (b) 1992, (c) 1993, (d) 1994, (e) 1995 and (f) 1996; [13264](2) how many asylum applications are outstanding from nationals of

The number of asylum applications awaiting an initial decision as at 31 December 1996 was 55,695, a reduction on the equivalent figure for the end of 1995–69,650. Of those applications currently awaiting an initial decision, the number which had been made following the implementation of the Asylum and Immigration Appeals Act 1993 has now been revised to 43,025. This follows an extensive count of cases which has shown that the method of estimation previously used underestimated the number of pre-1993 Act cases that have been decided. An

Asylum applications from requested nationalities awaiting an initial decision as at 31 December 1996, by year of application
Nationality	Applications outstanding1		Year of application2
	Number	Per cent.	1996 Per cent.	1995 Per cent.	1994 Per cent.	1993 Per cent.	1992 Per cent.	Pre-1992 Per cent.
Afghanistan	730	100	50	35	10	5	0	0
Iran	1,095	100	30	35	15	5	15	0
Iraq	985	100	45	40	10	5	0	0
Somalia former	450	100	45	45	10	5	0	0
Yugoslavia	4,045	100	10	25	10	15	35	0
All nationalities	55,695	100	20	35	20	10	10	10
1 Provisional figures rounded to the nearest 5.
2 Estimates rounded to the nearest 5 per cent.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list for (a) West Yorkshire, (b) West Midlands, (c) Tyne and Wear, (d) Greater Manchester, (e) South Yorkshire and (f) Merseyside in 1994–95 and 1995–96 (i) the crime figures and (ii) the detection rate by category of crime. [14809]

The available information is contained in the following table:

Notifiable offences recorded by the police and clear ups
Offence group	Number of offences		Percentage cleared up1,2
	1994–95	1995–96	1994	1995
West Yorkshire
Violence against the Person	8,997	8,520	81	82
Sexual offences	1,387	1,530	84	93
Robbery	2,910	3,497	28	25
Burglary	86,332	91,389	15	16
Theft and handling stolen Goods	131,233	128,306	18	19
Fraud and forgery	5,411	4,876	57	55
Criminal damage	44,795	45,691	12	13
Other offences	2,766	2,948	100	100
Total	283,831	286,757	20	21
West Midlands
Violence against the person	9,714	8,528	70	66
Sexual offences	1,325	1,148	71	66
Robbery	87,571	8,081	19	18
Burglary	7,201	91,842	27	30
Theft and handling stolen goods	140,812	152,187	23	21
Fraud and forgery	7,892	7,573	31	27
Criminal damage	52,605	54,329	13	11
Other offences	1,866	1,973	95	94
Total	308,986	325,661	25	24
Northumbria (including Tyne and Wear)
Violence against the person	6,111	5,482	74	73
Sexual offences	702	545	77	75
Robbery	1,234	1,653	23	26
Burglary	55,398	51,513	14	14
Theft and handling stolen goods	81,073	77,275	24	25

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police stations (a) have been closed and (b) opened and on what dates in the Metropolitan police area in the last five years for which information is available; and which police stations (i) will be opened and (ii) will close in the next 12 months. [15139]

The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has provided the following information:

Year	Stations/offices closed	Stations/offices opened
1992	Kings Cross Road	Archway
	Islington	Canary Wharf
	Forest Gate	Brick Lane
	Bow Street	Chalkhill
		Islington
		Forest Gate
		Charing Cross
1993	Rochester Row	Walworth
	Gerald Road	Belgravia
	Carter Street	Ashford
		Marks Gate
		North Greenford
		Wapping
1994	Bexleyheath	Bexleyheath
	Erith	Doran Walk
		Haggerston
		Bluebeat
		Little Ilford
		Broadwater Farm
1995	Ilford	Ilford
	Roman Road	Bethnel Green
	Jesus Green	Harefield
	Harefield	Cray
		Wornington Green
		Dalston
		Erith
1996	Bethnel Green	Hoe Street
	Leman Street
	Caledonian Road
	Wornington Green

Police stations which were closed and re-opened after being completely renovated and/or extended in the last five years
Year	Station
1992	Fulham
1993	Barkingside
1996	Hammersmith
	Hounslow

Stations/offices to close in the next 12 months	Stations/offices to open in the next 12 months
West Hendon	Archway
Isle of Dogs (old)	Colindale
Mill Hill	Kings Cross
Vine Street	Isle of Dogs
	Walhamstow Market
	West End Central

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what plans he has to withhold access to card-operated telephones from young offenders held at (a) Her Majesty's young offenders institution, Colchester and (b) other young offender institutions; [15155](2) what plans he has to censor mail sent to young offenders held at

For the first two stages of the regime at Colchester young offender institution, young offenders will be allowed a supervised weekly call to their family on an official telephone. In the third and final stage, access to card-operated telephones will be as it is in other young offender institutions. In addition, young offenders will be allowed welfare calls at the discretion of staff. Staff will read all mail sent to young offenders at Colchester, with the exception of legal correspondence.There are no plans to change the access to card-operated telephones or the arrangements for reading inmates' correspondence in other young offender institutions.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the number of persons who come to the United Kingdom as visitors but stay on as illegal immigrants in each of the last three years; and if he will take measures to provide the maximum flexibility in permitting visitor entry, with the maximum checks on overstaying. [15095]

The information available relates to all overstayers who were issued with a notice of intention to deport. There were 4,850 such persons in 1994, 4,660 in 1995 and 5,600—provisional figure—in 1996. All persons seeking entry as visitors are given leave to enter providing they satisfy the immigration rules, and enforcement action is taken against those who breach their conditions of leave to enter by, for example, overstaying.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) what was the crime clear-up rate and annual percentage change in each year since 1979 in each region; and if he will make a statement; [15013](2) what was the clear-up rate for all crimes in

The information requested is given in the tables.