To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department made of the presence of (a) hazardous materials and (b) ozone-depleting substances in the Treasury building which might be affected by its planned development with Exchequer Partnership plc; and what plans he has for (i) energy efficiency and (ii) waste management schemes in the development of the building. [13637]

All known asbestos is recorded in an Asbestos Register and Control of Substances Hazardous to Health—COSHH—registers are also held. Regular health and safety inspections, audit and tours are carried out. All halon fire extinguishers have been replaced and regular checks for CFC leakage detection are carried out on relevant departmental equipment. This information is available to Exchequer Partnership plc.So far as the redevelopment project is concerned, Exchequer Partnership will be contractually obliged to ensure that an "excellent" rating under the BREEAM system is obtained. In addition, design and construction will be carried out in accordance with all statutory authority regulations and requirements, including European legislation, statute or subordinate legislation relevant to new building and refurbishment. Exchequer Partnership plc must adhere to the Government's environmental policies.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what use his Department and its agencies make of postcode areas for the collection of data and in formulas for the distribution of grants and awards; and when such usages were last reviewed. [14797]

Postcodes are used extensively by the Office for National Statistics. The Treasury and the Chancellor's other departments and agencies make no use of postcode areas.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the number and proportion of households with personal equity plan savings of a value (a) less than £10,000, (b) £10,000 to £20,000, (c) £20,000 to £30,000 and (d) over £30,000. [16018]

The information requested is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the average amount of income tax paid by adult (a) pensioner and (b) non-pensioner taxpayers with annual investment income of (i) less than £50, (ii) £50 to £75, (iii) £75 to £100, (iv) £100 to £125, (v) £125 to £150, (vi) £150 to £175, (vii) £175 to £200, (viii) £200 to £250, (ix) £250 to £300, (x) £300 to £400, (xi) £400 to £500 and (xii) over £500 for the most recent year for which information is available. [15989]

Available estimates for 1997–98 based on projections from a mixture of statistical sources are given in the table. It is not possible to provide reliable estimates for all of the specified bands of investment income.

	Average amount of income tax paid1
Range of taxable investment income for 1997–98	Taxpayers aged under 64	Taxpayers aged 65 or over
£	£	£
1–49	2,350	900
50–99	2,450	950
100–499	3,500	1,050
Over 500	6,100	2,600
1Includes income tax paid on all types of income such as earned income, self employment and investment income.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what meetings he has had with the British Agrochemicals Association Ltd. in the last 12 months; what was the subject of the meetings; and if he will make a statement. [16291]

I have had no meetings with it in the last 12 months.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the net present cost in 1996 prices of tax relief on contributions made to appropriate personal pensions since 1988–89 assuming the social discount rate used by his Department. [13840]

[holding answer 4 February 1997]: The net present cost of income tax relief for the years 1988–89 to 1995–96¹ in respect of contributions to appropriate personal pensions is given in the table, split between national insurance fund contributions and contributions above this minimum made by employees and employers. The figures are in 1996–97 prices rounded to the nearest £0.1 billion, and have been calculated using the GDP deflator and a real discount rate of 3.75 per cent. in line with that underlying the Government Actuary's report on occupational and personal pension schemes, Cm 3221.

	NIF contributions	Employee/employer contributions	Total contributions
	£ billion	£ billion	£ billion
Net present cost of income tax relief paid	2.0	2.3	4.3
1 The cost of income tax relief for 1995–96 is provisional.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the delay in the investigation by the investment ombudsman and the Investment Management Regulatory Organisation of a complaint by Mr. Alan Holmes of Gullane, East Lothian, concerning compliance with IMRO rules and the terms of the Financial Services Act 1986 in relation to independent financial advice given to him by IMRO-regulated companies. [15112]

[holding answer 13 February 1997]: The investment ombudsman's office has been set up by IMRO for the independent investigation of complaints about investment business brought by investors against firms regulated by IMRO. Consistent with the independent status of the ombudsman, his investigations are not subject to Government direction or supervision. The service is provided free to complainants. Before the ombudsman can investigate a complaint, he must be satisfied that it falls within his jurisdiction, and this can take time to determine with complex cases. The case to which the hon. Member refers is complicated, but the ombudsman is dealing with it as quickly as is possible.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals are paid by English-based employers and work in Scotland and whose income tax is collected from their English employer. [15992]

[holding answer 14 February 1997]: The information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much income tax was collected by the Inland Revenue from Scottish-based employers in each of the last five years. [15932]

[holding answer 14 February 1997]: During each of the years from 1992–93 onwards the following amounts of income tax and national insurance contributions have been collected under PAYE from Scottish-based employers. It is not possible to identify separately amounts of income tax and national insurance contributions.

• 1992–93: £6,448,442,000
• 1993–94: £6,865,410,000
• 1994–95: £7,466,284,000
• 1995–96: £7,984,301,000
• 1996–97 (to January 1997): £5,835,077,000.

Additionally, some employers will have paid income tax on the profits of their business but separate totals are not held for Scottish-based employers.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the time it would take to introduce an income tax regime to tax people where they live instead of at their employer's pay office. [15933]

[holding answer 14 February 1997]: The estimate sought could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the cost of setting up an income tax regime to tax people where they live instead of at their employer's pay office. [15934]

[holding answer 14 February 1997]: None.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many individuals are paid by Scottish-based employers and work outside of Scotland and whose income tax is collected from a Scottish employer. [15991]

The information is not available.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what correspondence Her Majesty's Treasury has had with (a) the British Rail Board vendor unit and (b) bidders for subsidiary companies of the British Rail Board in respect of the surplus on the British Rail pension fund and the privatisation of subsidiary companies; and if he will make a statement. [16040]

[holding answer 17 February 1997]: None.

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will list the average amount of savings held per household in (a) Post Office accounts, (b) tax-exempt special savings accounts, (c) building society accounts, (d) bank accounts, (e) other accounts, (f) gilts, (g) unit trusts, ((h) stocks and shares, (i) personal equity plans, (j) national savings bonds, (k) save-as-you-earn and (l) premium bonds broken down by gross weekly household income divided into £100 bands. [16017]

I have been asked to reply.The information is not available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the change in the number of wild boar in England. [15646]

There are no figures available on the numerical trends in wild boar in England. Licences to keep wild boar are issued by local authorities, who maintain central records.While there have been sporadic sightings of wild boar in the wild, many of these have not been substantiated and there is no confirmed evidence of the animal breeding in the wild.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if the Government intend to apply the London convention's ban on sea disposal of radioactive wastes to radioactive scale on redundant oil installations; what criteria they will apply in assessing the best practicable environmental option for disposal of radioactive material from oil and gas installations; and how those criteria will differ from the criteria applied to wastes from the civil nuclear industry and radioactive military waste. [15672]

The London convention does not prohibit the dumping at sea of wastes or other materials containing "de minimis"—exempt—levels of radioactivity.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what measures he is taking to help to minimise the effect on small businesses of the producer responsibility for packaging waste directive. [15703]

Following extensive consultation with industry on the draft packaging waste regulations, my rt hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced on 18 December, Official Report, columns 614–16, the modifications that we propose to make in the light of the comments and proposals received.Among the changes announced were measures to help small businesses. We are proposing a staged approach to the new system, bringing in the largest businesses first, and we have introduced a turnover element to the cut-off threshold which should assist smaller businesses in establishing whether they will be obligated under the regulations. Businesses with a turnover of £5 million or less, and who handle 50 tonnes of packaging or less, will not be obligated in the years 1997 to 1999. With effect from 1 January 2000, the small business threshold applies to those with turnover of £1 million or less or who handle 50 tonnes of packaging or less. In addition, the provision that wholesalers take the selling obligation for small retailers will take effect from 1 January 2000. These changes will mean that the number of businesses obligated in the first few years will be in the region of 4,000 rising to around 9,000 by the year 2000. This compares with a total of over 250,000 businesses who handle packaged goods.A further measure which will help small businesses is the development of a ready reckoner or packaging catalogue to ease the collection of data and my Department has now commissioned contractors to this end.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the total usable receipts held by each local authority in each year since 1990. [15729]

A list of the usable capital receipts held by each English local authority on 31 March of each year from 1990 to 1996 has been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the minimum age requirements enforced by his Department. [15913]

Specific measures to protect the health and safety of young people and the relevant minimum age requirements are listed in annex 3 of the Health and Safety Commission's consultative document, "The Health and Safety (Young Persons) Regulations 1996: Proposals to implement the health and safety provisions of the EC Directive on the protection of young people at work". Copies of this document have been placed in the House of Commons Library. No other part of my Department is responsible for enforcing minimum age requirements.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his latest estimate of the arrears of outstanding uncollected (a) domestic rates, (b) business rates, (c) community charge and (d) council tax for each collecting authority in Northamptonshire. [15728]

Estimates of the levels of business rates, community charge and council tax arrears for individual authorities are published regularly by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy.The latest information relates to the position at 31 March 1995 and is available in the "Revenue Collection Statistics 1994–95" publication in the Library. Information on the arrears of domestic rates is not available. The latest available figures for the Northamptonshire authorities and the dates to which they relate are as follow:

£000
	Estimated arrears of:
	Business rates	Community charges	Council taxes
Corby (31 March 1995)	211	1,189	451
Daventry (31 March 1993)	475	1,663	—
East Northamptonshire	—	—	—
Kettering (31 March 1994)	390	860	463
Northampton	—	—	—
South Northamptonshire (31 March 1995)	1,092	368	205
Wellingborough (31 March 1993)	804	1,099	—

— No information has been published by CIPFA for East Northamptonshire or Northampton since community charge was abolished.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) which 10 local councils in England have the highest amounts of uncollected council tax; [16156](2) which local council in

Estimates of the levels of council tax arrears for individual authorities are published regularly by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy. The latest information relates to the position at 31 March 1995 and is available in the "Revenue Collection Statistics 1994–95" publication in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) which local council has (a) the north-west of England and (b) England has the lowest council tax rates; [16164](2) which local council in

The information requested is a follows:

1996–97 council tax (band D, two adults) for area of billing authority
	Lowest	£	Highest	£
(a) North West	Halton	647	Liverpool	1,006
(b) England	Westminster	295	Liverpool	1,006

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on progress with the development of the Willenhall shopping precinct. [15597]

I understand that Bellways Homes Ltd. and English Partnerships are likely to reach agreement this month on the amount of grant required to enable the redevelopment of the Willenhall shopping precinct to proceed.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proposals he has received as part of the consultative process on his Department's Green paper, "Household Growth; Where will we Live," in respect of the imposition of time limits on the period of time for which a developer may retain derelict urban land. [16043]

The consultation period on the Green Paper ends on 17 March. None of the responses received to date has specifically covered this issue.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of new households formed between the current date and 2016 will be occupied by people living alone. [16044]

The projected number of households in England at mid-year in 2016 is 23,598,000 a net increase of 3,421,000 on the projected number at mid year 1996. Of this net increase 2,753,000 households or 80 per cent. are projected to be one-person households where a one-person household is defined as someone living alone who does not share either housekeeping or a living room with anyone else.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of new housing was built on urban or brown field sites in (a) the most recent 12-month period for which figures are available and (b) the previous 12-month period. [16045]

The latest year for which figures are available is 1993. In that year 49 per cent. of new residential development in England was on land that had been previously developed for urban uses. In the previous year the proportion was 47 per cent. These figures were published in the Department's "Land Use Change in England Statistical Bulletin" last year. A new edition of this bulletin, with figures for 1994, will be published in May this year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of cohabiting new households, expressed as a percentage of total new projected households, his Department predicts for the years (a) 2000, (b) 2008 and (c) 2016, respectively. [16330]

The net increases in the number of households headed by a cohabiting couple in England at mid-year 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016 are projected to be 70,000, 122,000, 172,000 and 202,000 higher respectively than those at mid-year 1996, representing 8 per cent., 7 per cent., 7 per cent. and 6 per cent respectively of the net total new households projections on the same basis for these years.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what recent representations he has received concerning the taxation of show houses for local government purposes; what response he has made; and if he will make a statement; [16204](2) what is his policy on the taxation of show houses; and if he will make a statement. [16205]

Show houses are liable for non-domestic rates. We have received representations from the House Builders Federation and the Manufacturing and Construction Alliance that show houses should, instead, be subject to the council tax. We have agreed to meet both organisations to discuss this matter.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) at which meetings of the Building Research Establishment management board, held (a) prior to 8 December 1996, (b) between 8 and 20 December 1996 and (c) since 20 December 1996, members of his Department's BRE privatisation team were present; [16490](2) at which meetings of the Building Research Establishment management board held

All members of the BRE management board are members of the management bid team. Since the management bid team was authorised to enter the competition for the purchase of BRE, a member of the team of officials established by the Department to transfer BRE to the private sector has attended each meeting of the BRE management board. The meetings were held on 25 November 1996, 20 December 1996 and 27 January 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list all the occasions during the past three years on which Ministers have met members of the staff of the Building Research Establishment, the names of all those who attended the meetings and the subjects discussed on each occasion. [16493]

In the past three years, Ministers have visited the Building Research Establishment for the following occasions:

Minister for Housing and Planning, 16 May 1994, to open the Conseil International de Bâtiment international conference on the environment.

Minister for Construction and Planning, 5 February 1996, to see the first use of recycled aggregate in the foundations of the new energy efficiency building.

Minister for Construction and Planning, 12 June 1996, to seal a time capsule in the new building and to open the new Burn hall.

Ministers have paid routine visits to BRE, to see at first hand the work BRE does, as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations his Department has received about the possibility of the Building Research Establishment in-house bid team (a) having access to more information than the external bidders and (b) being treated in a different way to the external bidder in relation to meetings with other interested parties. [16489]

None. The Department has taken all reasonable steps to ensure a level playing field between all bidders.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will list the prosecutions carried out in England and Wales by the Environment Agency for water quality and integrated pollution control offences, in each month since October 1996 indicating (a) the person or company prosecuted, (b) the date and outcome of the prosecution, (c) the nature of the offence and (d) the penalty imposed. [15670]

[holding answer 17 February 1997]: I have arranged for the relevant details of prosecutions carried out by the Environment Agency for water pollution and integrated pollution control offences for the period October 1996 to January 1997 to be placed in the Libraries of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, pursuant to his answer of 11 February, Official Report, column 101, if he will list the locations of the (a) incinerators and (b) tyre-burning plant tested for emissions in respect of the burning of cattle carcases; and if he will reconcile the figures for the total number of incineration plants set out in his answer and in the answer from the Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food of 11 February, Official Report, column 145–46. [16249]

[holding answer 17 February 1997]: The incinerators are: Rechem, Fawley, Hampshire; Rechem, Pontypool, Gwent; Yorkshire Environmental, Knostrop, Leeds; Yorkshire Environmental, Ashford, Kent; Vetspeed, Royston, Herts. The tyre burning plant is Elm Energy, Wolverhampton.The answers given by me and by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture on 11 February related to the questions asked. The Prosper de Mulder rendering plant at Widnes is the subject of an air pollution authorisation from the local authority, Halton borough council. Emissions testing has taken place. The incinerator at Vetspeed, Royston, burns cattle carcases, not rendered remains. The trial incineration of tannery waste at Pontypool, Knostrop, Ashford and Wolverhampton was listed in my reply for completeness, although rendering of tannery waste is not a process which meets the definition of rendering in the Animal By-Products Order 1992 and these incinerators were not, therefore, included in my hon. Friend's reply.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what discussions and on what dates have taken place between his Department, MAFF and the DTI regarding (a) a common definition of bulky waste and (b) a policy for its disposal at sea; [15629](2) what is his Department's definition of bulky waste in respect of disposal of waste at sea; [15628](3) what assessment his Department has made of potential disposal sites for bulky wastes at sea; and if he will place in the Library copies of

I have been asked to reply.The London convention of 1972 on dumping of waste at sea refers to containers, scrap metal and other bulky wastes liable to sink to the sea bottom which may present a serious obstacle to fishing or navigation.The protocol to the London convention, agreed in November last year, describes bulky wastes as items primarily comprising iron, steel, concrete and similarly unharmful materials for which the primary concern is physical impact.The Ospar convention, which will shortly supersede the Oslo convention and whose more stringent controls on dumping at sea are already applied to UK waters, does not refer to bulky wastes. Under Ospar the dumping of all wastes or other matter is prohibited except for specified categories which include inert materials of natural origin—for example, rock—and vessels and aircraft until 2004; offshore installations and pipelines may also be considered for disposal. Each case is considered on its merits and it is UK policy to license disposal at sea only when there is no safe and practicable alternative. The only assessment so far undertaken of potential disposal sites at sea for a bulky waste was conducted by the Scottish Office in relation to the Brent Spar. All the studies included in that assessment have already been placed in the Library.Details of the interdepartmental discussions on this topic could be derived only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) what procedure his Department follows in determining best practicable environmental options; and what criteria govern the disposal of bulky wastes at sea, in the case of (a) redundant oil and gas installations, (b) radioactive wastes and (c) other wastes; [15649](2) what are the interdepartmental co-ordination and consultation mechanisms used in determining the best practicable environmental options for disposing of bulky wastes at sea, in the case of

I have been asked to reply.The dumping of waste at sea is subject to the provisions of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 and the UK has agreed to abide by guidelines and assessment procedures adopted under relevant international conventions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list (a) for each unitary council and (b) for Wales in 1997 prices for the financial years 1996–97 and 1997–98 the (a) standard spending assessment, (b) capping limit for spending and (c) spending on care in the community, indicating the percentage change in each case. [15339]

Table 1 gives the standard spending assessments and table 2 the capping limits on spending for 1996–97 and 1997–98 at constant 1997–98 prices. No adjustments have been made for changes in local authority funding arrangements between 1996–97 and 1997–98.Outturn expenditure figures for care in the community are not centrally available. Identified allocations for care in the community within authorities standard spending assessments for 1996–97 1997–98 prices, are shown in table 3.

Table 1: Standard spending assessments
Council	1997–98 (£000)	11996–97 (£000)	Change (£000)	Percentage change
Blaenau Gwent	65,269	65,786	-517	-0.8
Bridgend	110,865	109,739	1,125	1.0
Caerphilly	147,190	147,213	-23	0.0
Cardiff	250,773	249,935	839	0.3
Carmarthenshire	151,724	151,325	399	0.3
Ceredigion	61,527	61,113	413	0.7
Conwy	92,824	91,849	975	1.1
Denbighshire	79,476	80,126	-650	-0.8
Flintshire	115,628	114,810	819	0.7
Gwynedd	109,516	108,531	985	0.9
Isle of Anglesey	61.760	62,018	-258	-0.4
Merthyr Tydfil	56584	56,976	-393	-0.7
Monmouthshire	65,860	65,325	535	0.8
Neath Port Talbot	122,316	122,860	-544	-0.4
Newport	118,639	119,867	-1,228	-1.0
Pembrokeshire	101,848	102,438	-590	-0.6
Powys	119,200	117,962	1,239	1.1
Rhondda, Cynon Taff	212,409	211,228	1,181	0.6
Swansea	196,438	197,414	-976	-0.5
Torfaen	79,336	79,352	-17	0.0

Table 1: Standard spending assessments
Council	1997–98(£000)	11996–97(£000)	Change(£000)	Percentage change
The Vale of Glamorgan	95,846	96,526	-680	-0.7
Wrexham	100,625	100,529	96	0.1
All councils	2,515,652	2,512,922	2,730	0.1
11996–97 local government revenue settlement estimated at 1997–98 prices.

Table 2: Capping limits on spending
Council	1997–98(£000)	11996–97(£000)	Change(£000)	Percentage change
Blaenau Gwent	71,106	70,955	151	0.2
Bridgend	117,264	116,250	1,015	0.9
Caerphilly	154,611	154,447	164	0.1
Cardiff	261,849	261,232	617	0.2
Carmarthenshire	159,313	158,311	1,002	0.6
Ceredigion	67,642	67,394	248	0.4
Conwy	92,824	91,849	975	1.1
Denbighshire	84,344	85,145	-801	-0.9
Flintshire	120,836	120,120	716	0.6
Gwynedd	114,524	113,639	884	0.8
Isle of Anglesey	62,582	62,313	269	0.4
Merthyr Tydfil	60,122	59,966	156	0.3
Monmouthshire	65,860	65,325	535	0.8
Neath Port Talbot	132,996	132,365	631	0.5
Newport	120,000	119,867	134	0.1
Pembrokeshire	103,921	103,553	367	0.4
Powys	120,411	119,196	1,215	1.0
Rhondda, Cynon, Taff	228,967	228,261	706	0.3
Swansea	203,116	202,013	1,103	0.5
Torfaen	81,389	81,256	132	0.2
The Vale of Glamorgan	97,404	97,452	-48	0.0
Wrexham	105,055	103,414	1,641	1.6
All councils	2,626,136	2,614,325	11,812	0.5
11996–97 local government revenue settlement estimated at 1997–98 prices.

Table 3: Allocations within total standard spending assessments in respect of care in the community
Council	1997–98(£000)	11996–97(£000)	Change(£000)	Percentage change
Blaenau Gwent	4,240	3,831	409	10.7
Bridgend	7,276	6,526	750	11.5
Caerphilly	9,148	8,242	905	11.0
Cardiff	15,991	14,385	1,606	11.2
Carmarthenshire	11,142	10,031	1,111	11.1
Ceredigion	4,258	3,826	432	11.3
Conwy	7,326	6,611	715	10.8
Denbighshire	5,792	5,271	521	9.9
Flintshire	7,257	6,518	740	11.4
Gwynedd	7,704	6,937	767	11.1
Isle of Anglesey	3,987	3,679	309	8.4
Merthyr Tydfil	3,821	3,480	342	9.8
Monmouthshire	4,540	4,018	522	13.0
Neath Port Talbot	8,909	7,946	963	12.1
Newport	7,356	6,681	675	10.1
Pembrokeshire	6,353	5,706	647	11.3
Powys	7,548	6,818	730	10.7
Rhondda, Cynon, Taff	15,553	14,016	1,538	11.0
Swansea	13,596	12,328	1,268	10.3
Torfaen	4,627	4,167	459	11.0
The Vale of Glamorgan	5,993	5,468	525	9.6
Wrexham	6,793	6,080	713	11.7
All councils	169,209	152,562	16,647	10.9
11996–97 local government revenue settlement estimated at 1997–98 prices.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what measures he proposes to introduce to reduce the number of teacher redundancies. [15834]

Local education authorities and schools are responsible for decisions relating to the employment and deployment of individual schools teachers. The local authority settlement announced recently should enable those local authorities who attach the same high priority to education as my right hon. Friend and Ito have sufficient resources to meet the needs of schools.

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he has reached a decision concerning the allocation of resources to health authorities in Wales for 1997–98. [16854]

I announced on 12 December 1996, Official Report, columns 405–09, that I shall be providing an additional £94 million for the NHS in Wales in 1997–98. This will bring total spending to £2,368 million; £1,658 million of this will fund the hospital, community and family health service.Within this amount, the five health authorities, general practitioners and general practitioner fundholders will receive revenue funding of £1,505 million, £52 million or 3.5 per cent. more than in 1996–97 plans. In real terms, this is an overall increase of 1.5 per cent. Within these resources, I have been able to give health authorities £49 million, which represents a 3.5 per cent. cash increase on discretionary purchasing power, and £3 million to cash limited general medical services, which is a 5.6 per cent. cash increase.I am expecting health authorities and trusts to continue to generate efficiency savings and in 1997–98 these should amount to at least 2.7 per cent. This will release some £40 million which, together with the new money, will be available to meet inflationary and other pressures, and to increase investment in patient care.Health authorities and trusts will also receive £105 million to fund capital development. Included with this is some £9 million of new provision in order to fund the package of urgently needed capital development that I set out in my budget statement. The rationalisation of services between the Cardiff royal infirmary and the university hospital of Wales, the new link road to the hospital site and work on the new cancer centre in north Wales can now begin next year. These developments complement the capital schemes worth £40 million that are currently subject to the private finance initiative and I fully expect to see some successful outcomes in 1997–98. The private finance initiative offers a unique opportunity to bring forward capital developments which are funded outside public expenditure.Officials have today informed health authorities and trusts of the provisional allocations to health authorities and trusts' external financing limits. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the relationship between the level of funding and education standards in maintained primary schools in the London borough of Hillingdon. [16235]

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will make a statement on the relationship between the level of funding and education standards in maintained primary schools in the London borough of Hillingdon. [16237]

There is no simple relationship between levels of funding and education standards.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will take steps to assist further education colleges running operating deficits to restore their financial health without jeopardising the quality and scope of the education offered. [16102]

Colleges are independent, autonomous bodies and are responsible for managing their own financial affairs. The Further Education Funding Council has effective arrangements in place for identifying colleges in financial difficulty and for working with them to recover their financial health.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the ratio of computers to secondary school pupils in (a) the United Kingdom, (b) the United States of America and (c) Japan in the last five years for which figures are available. [16143]

Comparative data are not readily available. A recent international report by Research Machines on information technology provision in schools, covering countries in the group of 7, indicated that in 1996 the ratio of computers to secondary school pupils in the United Kingdom was one per 8.5 pupils, in the United States of America one per 12 pupils and in Japan about one per 25 pupils.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many schools by local education authority have been deemed by Office for Standards in Education inspectors to be failing to provide a satisfactory standard of education. [16171]

The information requested on the 243 failing schools, as at 31 January 1997, is given in the following table. In addition, I have placed in the Library a coloured map containing the same information.For completeness, I should add that 18 schools have already been restored to health as a result of the special measures policy and 12 have closed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many children of school age, who are the subjects of statements of special educational needs, are being educated in (a) private schools specialising in such children, (b) maintained special schools, (c) special units within maintained schools and (d) mainstream classes in maintained schools. [16438]

Schools' returns to the Department showed that in January 1996, 4,992 pupils with statements were educated in non-maintained special schools, 5,810 in independent schools, 87,458 in maintained special schools, 1,826 in pupil referral units, and 127,238 in maintained nursery, primary or secondary schools. Information on whether pupils with statements in mainstream schools are taught in general classes or separately is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (a) boys and (b) girls of school age are the subjects of statements of special educational needs; and how many of these have (i) special learning difficulties and (ii) behavioural problems. [16435]

Schools' returns to the Department showed that in January 1996 a total of 227,324 pupils had statements. Information by gender, or by type of special educational need, is not collected centrally.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the number and the proportion of eligible parents who have (a) received a voucher application form and (b) returned a voucher application from, in respect of provision for their four-year-old in the summer term 1997. [15958]

The parents/carers of 653,746 eligible children have been sent an application form. Of those, as of 12 February 1997, a total of 511,780—more than 78 per cent.—had returned their forms to the nursery voucher centre.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what representations she has received from providers in the four areas piloting the nursery voucher scheme, regarding the impact of the voucher scheme on provision for three-year-olds. [15960]

My right hon. Friend has received representations on a number of aspects of the nursery voucher scheme, including the desirability of extending the scheme to three-year-olds. As the deduction from each local education authority's standard spending assessment is only in respect of existing places for four-year-olds, it should not impact on the provision for three-year-olds.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many places for voucher-bearing four-year-olds were provided in (a) the maintained sector, (b) the voluntary sector, (c) the private sector and (d) overall in (i) the first term and (ii) the second term of the nursery voucher pilot scheme. [15955]

The table provides a breakdown of the number of places provided under the voucher scheme by type of provider for each of the phase 1 local education authority areas in the summer and autumn terms of 1996.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment when parents of four-year-olds will receive a nursery voucher in respect of provision in the summer term 1997. [15957]

The first tranche of nursery education vouchers will arrive with parents from 24 February 1997. Thereafter vouchers will be issued to parents on receipt of a correctly completed application form.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will publish the chief inspector's report on the findings of the inspections carried out up to the end of November, in the pilot phase of the nursery voucher scheme. [15959]

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has published today the chief inspector's overview report on the findings of inspections carried out in the local authority areas participating in phase 1 of the nursery education voucher scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is her current estimate of the number and percentage of parents in the four areas piloting the nursery voucher scheme who have seen or heard advertising for the scheme. [15953]

Research undertaken in March 1996 among a sample of the 16,000 eligible parents in the four phase 1 participating authorities showed that, overall,

Voucher redemption in summer and autumn terms
	Norfolk	Kensington and Chelsea	Wandsworth	Westminster
Summer term 1996
Estimated children	9,300	1,650	3,300	1,900
Vouchers issued	8,914	1,140	3,123	1,395
Vouchers redeemed (full or part)	8,331	1,076	2,798	1,141
Nominal value of unredeemed voucher parts	£526,251	£28,859	£141,913	£107,589
Autumn term 1996
Estimated children	9,300	1,650	3,300	1,900
Vouchers issued	9,128	1,142	3,147	1,469
Vouchers redeemed (full or part)	8,889	1,081	2,760	1,148
Nominal value of unredeemed vouchers parts	£177,960	£35,570	£174,403	£142,463

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many vouchers have been (a) issued and (b) redeemed in respect of (i) term one and (ii) term two of the nursery voucher scheme; and what is the cash value of unredeemed vouchers; [15954](2) in respect of each of the four nursery voucher pilot areas

The following table provides a breakdown of the estimated number of children eligible for a voucher, and the number of vouchers issued and redeemed for each of the phase 1 local education authority areas in the summer and autumn terms 1996. Unredeemed vouchers do not have a cash value; they represent the potential grant that would have been paid had they been redeemed.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the timetable which governs the process of application for grant-maintained status if a board of school governors recommends that such status should be sought. [16252]

If the governing body of a school passes a resolution to ballot parents on grant-maintained status, or if it receives a valid petition from parents, it must hold a ballot within 10 weeks. If a majority of those parents who vote are in favour of GM status, the governing body must publish, within four months of the ballot result, statutory proposals for acquiring GM status. There is then a period of two months during which objections to those proposals may be made. My right hon. Friend decides the proposals, taking account of any objections, as soon as possible thereafter.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate she has made of the number of schools likely to apply for grant-maintained status within the next six months; and if she will make a statement. [16254]

There are currently some 50 schools which have published statutory proposals to become grant maintained following a yes vote in parental ballots, and nine more are in the process of balloting parents. Beyond that, the number of schools applying for grant-maintained status depends on parental choice and we do not try to predict it.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many (a) primary and (b) secondary schools have begun the process of seeking grant-maintained status; in how many of those cases parents voted by a sufficient majority in favour of acquiring such status; in how many of the cases of such affirmative votes applications have so far been received by his Department; in how many of those cases of applications received such status (i) was approved, (ii) was denied and (iii) is still pending; and if she will make a statement. [16251]

The GM process starts when a school decides to ballot parents on applying for GM status. If parents vote yes, the school publishes statutory proposals to become a grant-maintained school. These are considered by the Secretary of State, who may approve or reject them. The following table gives details of ballots and their outcomes in England since GM legislation was first introduced in 1988.

	(a) Primary	(b) Secondary
Number of schools holding ballots	764	944
Yes votes by parents	566	702
Statutory proposals published	561	701
Statutory proposals approved by Secretary of State	494	654
Statutory proposals rejected by Secretary of State	50	39
Statutory proposals under consideration	17	8

Figures exclude special schools and schools established by promoters. Where schools have held more than one ballot, only the outcome of the latest has been included. Where schools have published proposals more than once, only the latest decision has been counted.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if she will list the grounds upon which an application by a school for grant-maintained status could be refused by the Secretary of State; and in what circumstances under the relevant Act the Secretary of State could defer a decision. [16253]

My right hon. Friend considers each application for grant-maintained status on its merits and in the light of the relevant circumstances. The reasons for any decision not to approve GM statutory proposals therefore vary from case to case. The legislation does not make provision for the deferral of decisions on GM applications.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many people after claiming jobseeker's allowance for a period of 13 weeks have taken (a) part-time employment of less than 25 hours, (b) temporary employment of less than (i) six months and (ii) 12 months and (c) employment paying less than £3 per hour in each month since 7 October 1996. [16125]

Responsibility for the subject of the question has been delegated to the Employment Service Agency under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) how many people have been subject to benefit disqualification as a result of (a) breaking the labour market conditions, (b) failing to complete the jobseeker's allowance agreement, (c) refusing to attend mandatory training courses and (d) failing to act on the jobseeker's direction in each month since 7 October 1996; [16126]

Responsibility for the subject of the questions has been delegated to the Employment Service under its chief executive. I have asked him to arrange for a reply to be given.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment, pursuant to his answer of 3 February, Official Report, column 466, what level of TEC reserves is available for discretionary expenditure. [16856]

The information provided by training and enterprise councils in England about the level of reserves shown in their statutory accounts for 1995–96 show that the total of £260 million comprised £51 million for investment in capital assets, £86 million for working capital and £123 million for discretionary expenditure. Of the sum available for discretionary expenditure, £102 million was earmarked for planned expenditure in 1996–97 and beyond for economic regeneration and other purposes in line with their corporate and business plans.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment how many and which United Kingdom constituencies have higher unemployment rates than (a) Germany and (b) France. [15673]

I have been asked to reply.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 Secretary of State for Defence how many items of publicity material are produced by his Department in the Urdu language. [14850]

I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 10 February, Official Report, column 5. Details of any other material produced by my Department in the Urdu language are not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the effect of his Department's policies on the residents of Bournemouth since 1992, with special reference to the effects of changes in the resources provided in real terms. [14954]

Information is not available in the form requested by my hon. Friend. However, my Department publishes data on the destination of MOD equipment expenditure on an annual basis in "UK Defence Statistics". Table 1.9 shows expenditure in each of the standard UK regions. A copy of the latest "UK Defence Statistics" is in the Library of the House. Data are not available at a lower level than that published. My hon. Friend may wish to know, however, that my Department has placed over 550 contracts in the Bournemouth area over the last 12 months worth in total in the region of £40 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many suicides there have been in each of the armed services in each year since 1990. [15387]

[holding answer 12 February 1997]: The number of coroner verdicts of suicide in each of the armed services, including Gurkhas¹, for each year since 1990 are:

Year	Navy	Army1	RAF	Total
1990	8	20	14	42
1991	5	22	7	34
1992	6	19	5	30
1993	1	18	4	23
1994	6	18	5	29
1995	1	15	2	18
1996	2	3	0	5
1997	0	0	0	0

Information in the table as at 10 February 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the ways in which his Department has demonstrated the ability to improve efficiency and competitiveness through an environmental audit of (a) energy use and (b) waste management within those buildings his Department occupies; and if he will make a statement. [16423]

This answer can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what will be the role of (a) the Department of Trade and Industry, (b) the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and (c) the Department of Education and Employment in the design consultations on the replacement for the royal yacht Britannia. [15736]

In view of the trade promotion and representational roles of the royal yacht, officials from the Department of Trade and Industry and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office will assist the Ministry of Defence in developing the specification for the new vessel. No Department for Education and Employment participation is currently planned.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consultations his Department has had with the Department of Social Security in relation to replies to parliamentary questions from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Wythenshawe, on the subject of sensorineural hearing loss and war pensions. [15860]

The administration of the war pension scheme is a matter for the Department of Social Security. On medical matters, the legislation governing that scheme requires the War Pensions Agency to take the advice of a medical advisor appointed by the Secretary of State for that Department. My Department has no part to play in this process; consequently, there has been no need for consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what steps have been taken in recent years to reduce the fixed costs of the ranges at (a) Eskmeals and (b) Shoeburyness; [16479](2) what are the fixed costs to the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency of providing the ranges at

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what proportion of the test and evaluation work of (a) Eskmeals range and (b) Shoeburyness range is devoted to (i) new weapon procurement and (ii) equipment improvement programmes to enhance existing defence systems. [16481]

This is a matter for the chief executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. I have asked the chief executive to write to the right hon. Member.