To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what criteria are used by the Ministry to determine whether ex gratia payments should be made to ex-service personnel who have sustained serious injuries during their service in the armed forces; [35731](2) what is the number and total value of ex gratia payments made to ex-service personnel in respect of injuries they sustained during their service in the armed forces in each of the last 10 years. [35720]

An ex gratia payment is one made where no legal liability to pay exists. Except for two special categories of claim, relating to injuries sustained by criminal activity overseas and accidental injuries sustained by Service personnel voluntarily involved in research trials, it is my Department's policy to consider claims for compensation from ex-Service personnel only on the basis of its legal liability. With the exception of the two schemes mentioned above, no criteria exist for assessing whether ex gratia payments should be made. No ex gratia payments have been made by my Department to ex-Service personnel in respect of injuries sustained during their service in the ten year period ending 31 December 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what percentage of low-flying sorties over Powys were crewed by flight staff from other countries in 1997; and if he will make a statement; [35918](2) what percentage of low-flying sorties over Powys were the result of overseas trade deals in 1997; and if he will make a statement. [35919]

The information is not available in the form requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost. It remains our policy to distribute military low-flying activity as widely and equitably as practicable. In 1997, sorties flown by non-UK based foreign aircraft and UK-based USAF aircraft made up 5 per cent. of the overall number of low-flying sorties flown in the UK.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many service personnel were medically discharged from the armed forces (a) between 1980 to 1989 and (b) since 1990. [35897]

The following number of medical discharges for the armed forces have been reported by the services from 1 January 1980 to 31 December 1997 as at 23 March 1998.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 9 March 1998, Official Report, column 48, on a veterans' unit, if he will make a statement on the discussions he had with the Secretary General of the Royal British Legion. [36083]

I had a very useful meeting with the Secretary General of the Royal British Legion on 11 March to discuss his organisation's current views on how best to improve the handling of ex-Service affairs. My Department will be looking closely at options for approaching the wider question of matters relating to the ex-Service community in the light of these discussions.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the scenario of a nuclear weapon accident exercise entitled Pantograph which took place in 1988; on what dates and where the exercise took place; and if he will place a copy of the results of this exercise in the Library. [35367]

Exercise PANTOGRAPH took place at RAF Hullavington in May 1988. The exercise tested the procedures in place for responding to the crash of a transport aircraft carrying nuclear weapons. A classified report on the exercise does exist, but for the reasons given by my hon. Friend in answer to the hon. Member on 31 July 1997, Official Report, column 470, and under Exemption 2 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, I am not prepared to release the report.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer of 9 February 1998, Official Report, column 71, on precision guided weapons, which countries have been supplied with multi-spectral smoke by UK companies. [30244]

I have been asked to reply.The Department of Trade and Industry does not compile records of actual exports to any destination.The export of military smoke projectors and generators is controlled under entry ML2 of the Export of Goods (Control) Order (this is known as the "rating" of these goods). The export of munitions containing smoke is controlled under entries ML3, ML4 and possibly PL5030. The export of vehicles, vessels or aircraft incorporating smoke projectors or generators is controlled under entries ML6, ML9, and ML10 respectively. The export of specialised devices or generators for military training is controlled under entry ML14.Many licences have been issued covering goods with these ratings. It would entail disproportionate cost to determine which, if any, covered equipment containing or capable of generating or projecting multispectral smoke.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects to receive the report of the Film Policy Review Group. [36456]

The Film Policy Review Group Report "A Bigger Picture" was published this afternoon. I have placed copies of the Report in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will estimate the amount of money to be allocated to the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts during the lifetime of the current National Lottery operating licence. [36067]

The National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts will receive an initial endowment of £200 million from the National Lottery Distribution Fund. I have no current plans to make any further endowment to NESTA during the lifetime of the current operating licence.

To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if he will list the organisations that responded to the consultation exercise following the publication of the White Paper "The People's Lottery". [36384]

Nearly 500 organisations and over 90 individuals responded to the White Paper, "The People's Lottery". On 18 December last year, I sent the right hon. Member a copy of the comprehensive analysis of all the responses, including a list of the organisations that responded, and placed a copy in the Libraries of both Houses.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the pathogen strains exported from the United Kingdom to Iraq between 1985 and 1989 indicating the date of export.[34846]

[holding answer 19 March 1998): The Department of Trade & Industry does not compile records of exports to any destination. A list of applications for licences to export to Iraq from the period 1984–90 formed Part A of Appendix A to Sir Richard Scott's Report of the Inquiry into the Export of Defence Equipment and Dual-Use Goods to Iraq and Related Prosecutions.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many export licence applications were approved between the end of the Gulf War in 1991 and 1997 for shipment to Iraq of growth mediums that could have dual use. [34527]

[holding answer 16 March 1998]: I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Walsall, South (Mr. George) on 16 March 1998, Official Report, columns 487–90.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what analysis the Government have undertaken on the relationship between the Multilateral Agreement on Investment and Multilateral Environmental Agreements; and if she will publish the results. [35498]

As part of the OECD's review of the relationship between the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) and environmental regulation, which was requested by the UK, the OECD Secretariat has prepared a draft paper on the relationship between the MAI and MEAs. This part of the OECD's review is currently under discussion, and we hope it will be placed on the Internet soon.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what analysis the Government have carried out on the effect of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment on regulations relating to (a) labour standards and (b) the environment; and if she will publish it. [35496]

All negotiators agree that the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) must not undermine normal government regulation, including in the fields of labour standards and the environment. The UK and several other countries are pressing for a requirement that labour and environmental regulations should not be waived to attract particular investments.A copy of the UK's review of the compatibility of our national laws on the environment with the MAI was placed in the Library of the House on 19 March.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will publish the evidence evaluated by the Government on the treatment of the trading of pollution quotas under the Multilateral Agreement on Investment. [35497]

The MAI concerns investment rather than trade. Nevertheless, the issue of trading pollution quotas is under consideration in the OECD's review of the relationship between the MAI and MEAs.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will seek to amend the current draft text of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment in respect of compensation for expropriation of an investment. [35619]

New draft text on compensation and expropriation was tabled in negotiations on 17 March in response to fears that an earlier draft was too widely drawn. This makes clear that Parties will not be required to pay compensation for losses arising from normal government activity such as regulation and revenue-raising.The Government welcome the objective of the new draft, which we will consider carefully.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans she has to provide financial assistance to small businesses to help them deal with millennium computer compliance problems. [35601]

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what financial support she intends to provide to small and medium enterprises to overcome the difficulties of Millennium computer compliance. [34124]

Action 2000 has been set up to raise awareness and understanding of the Millennium bug problem and of the action which can be taken to deal with it. As with any business problem, it will be for individual businesses to finance the steps required to deal with it, although Business Links will be able to offer advice and easy access to the necessary support.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to the Minister for Science, Energy and Industry's letter of 18 February 1998 to the hon. Member for Linlithgow, what is the result of the contact with Caledonian University on helping British companies exploit Delft Flight simulator technology; and if she will make a statement. [34122]

[holding answer 23 March 1998]: My hon. Friend has written to me on this subject, and further to my reply of 18 February, in which I stated that my officials were pursuing this matter, I can confirm they have been making inquiries to obtain details of the project from the university.My officials will continue to investigate and will consider carefully the information we receive. I will write to my hon. Friend with more details as soon as possible and place a copy of that letter in the Library of the House.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if the military, security and police supplies sent to Kenya in the last two years went to the military or to police units. [328321]

I refer my hon. Friend to my answer to the hon. Member for North Devon (Mr. Harvey), on 12 March 1998, Official Report, columns 331–32.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how long on average it takes to obtain an export licence to export humanitarian products to Iraq; what proportion of that time is taken waiting for a decision from the UN; what was (a) the longest and (b) the shortest time taken to grant an application for such a licence in the last 12 months; what was (i) the longest and (ii) the shortest time taken by the UN in processing an application referred to them by her Department over the same 12 months; and if there is any difference between the time taken to process applications made by recognised charities and commercial concerns. [35083]

The Export Control Organisation of the Department does not record the average length of time it takes to process an export licence application, and it would entail disproportionate cost to find the longest and shortest times taken in the last 12 months to process applications to export humanitarian products to Iraq.Typically, the Department has been notified of the United Nations Sanctions Committee's decisions three to four weeks after submission, but this can vary a great deal from case to case. The Department does not compile records of the time taken between submission to the Committee of an application by the UK Mission to the United Nations and notification of its decision. The Sanctions Committee has recently completed a review designed to streamline its consideration of applications.In processing applications, the Department makes no distinction between recognised charities and other applicants. However, where a UN aid agency, such as UNICEF or the World Health Organisation, is acting as the consignee, the agency can seek approval from the Sanctions Committee before the exporter applies for an export licence, which is likely to reduce the processing time within the Department of Trade and Industry.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade how many village post offices closed (a) nationally and (b) in Shropshire in each year since 1979 for which figures are available.[34258]

I understand from the Post Office that the number of rural post offices nationally which have closed since March 1987 are as set out in the table. Due to reorganisation and changes in administrative boundaries at Post Office Counters Ltd, data before this date nationally and before 1993 in Shropshire are not available.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the dismissal procedure agreements made by employers and trade unions and substituted for industrial tribunals under the terms of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978.[35697]

The Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 has been superseded by the Employment Rights Act 1996. Only one agreement has been made under the dismissal procedures provisions in section 110 of that Act. It relates to the Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will ensure that an independent agency has the responsibility for defining the constituency boundaries of trade union ballots. [35780]

The Government will set out their proposals on union recognition for consultation in the forthcoming White Paper on fairness at work.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans she has to ensure that workers dismissed for taking part in a legal strike have a right to (a) reinstatement and (b) compensation. [35778]

The Government are reviewing the law on the dismissal of strikers and will announce the outcome in the forthcoming White Paper on fairness at work.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what reviews she has undertaken to assess the advantages and disadvantages of a minimum length of employment in respect of protection against unfair dismissal. [35779]

My Department monitors carefully the correspondence and representations which we receive from all sides on this issue. Questions about the length of the employment period discriminating indirectly against women are currently before the European Court of Justice and we shall consider the Court's judgment in due course.

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will make a statement about progress with the review of utility regulation.[36623]

Water, energy and telecommunications are among the essentials of everyday life. The public expect and have a right to an efficient supply of these services, on fair terms. The Government are determined to ensure that the regulatory framework delivers this.That is why I announced a review of regulation of the gas, water, electricity and telecommunications utilities on 30 June 1997. I am today publishing the results of this review in a Green Paper, "A Fair Deal for Consumers: Modernising the Framework for Utility Regulation".Effective regulation should ensure that the consumer comes first. It should do this by providing incentives to innovate and improve efficiency; by driving competition to push service standards up and prices down; by protecting consumers where the discipline of competition is insufficient; and by providing a framework which will ensure that these industries contribute to a better environment and quality of life, capable of being shared by all sectors of society, and by future generations.The privatised utilities were sold too cheaply, and price controls set by the previous Government on privatisation were too lax. The result was a bad deal for consumers and for taxpayers. The Windfall Tax put right the mistakes of the past. It is time now to learn lessons from the existing regulatory regime—both its strengths and its weaknesses—to ensure that consumers are better served in future. We need to anticipate changes in market structures such as the development of multi-utility companies, the rapid emergence of competition in energy supply, and the impact of liberalisation in telecommunications. We also need to build confidence in the regulatory system by improving the transparency, consistency and accountability of the process.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what decibel projections were modelled for the proposed A417/A419 DBFO road; what decibel readings have been taken by the Department, or other agencies, on the road (a) before and (b) after it was constructed; at which points along the road the readings were taken; and whether any of these readings are above the Department's decibel mean; [35346]

I have asked the Chief Executive of the Highways Agency, Mr. Lawrie Haynes, to write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions on how many occasions written directions were sought by the accounting officer of the Department of Transport since 1 January 1996; what were the circumstances of each direction; and on what dates the directions were sought. [35369]

One. It concerned a scheme of redress for those who had experienced exceptional hardship from generalised blight as a result of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link before the final route was fixed. It was sought on 18 March 1997 but became unnecessary owing to changes in the hardship scheme.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will ensure that the choice of site for the London terminal for the rail link to the Channel Tunnel meets the needs of the North West and Northern regions. [35742]

St. Pancras is the London terminal specified in both the Channel Tunnel Rail Link Act 1996 and the Development Agreement with London and Continental Railways. It would provide ready access to services from King's Cross and Euston to the North and North West of England. LCR also plan through international services to the West Coast Main Line via Stratford.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many local authorities own housing stock; and if he will list those which spend notional rent surpluses to meet the cost of housing benefit, indicating for each how much notional rent surplus is spent on housing benefit; what is the total number of council house tenants in each authority; and what is the total number who do not receive housing benefit. [35640]

In 1997, 324 local authorities in England owned housing stock which was accounted for in their Housing Revenue Account.The other information requested is contained in tables which I have placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many of the responses to the consultation document, "Licensing Minicabs in London", advocated that private hire drivers in London should undergo a form of topographical training. [35847]

The majority of responses were in favour of some test of topographical knowledge for minicab drivers, though there was a range of views as to the nature of such a test.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what plans the Government have to require applicants for licences as taxi drivers to pay for their own testing. [35845]

Such an arrangement might be desirable in principle, but would depend on an opportunity being found for primary legislation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if the statement by the Principal of the Public Carriage Office in February, that a map reading test will be a sufficiently rigorous check on topographical skills should licensing be introduced for private hire drivers, represents Government policy. [35858]

Decisions on licensing arrangements for private hire vehicles drivers will be taken after the necessary primary legislation is in place.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what consultation processes the Public Carriage Office undertakes when it proposes to make changes to its operating procedures. [35846]

I understand that the Public Carriage Office consults as it judges appropriate in the light of any particular change.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what process of consultation and policy development will be undertaken by the Public Carriage Office in developing topographical training and testing for licensed private hire vehicle drivers under his Department's proposals to license minicabs in London; which organisations will be formally included in the consultation process; and if testing procedures for private hire vehicles will also apply to licensed taxi drivers. [35877]

It is envisaged that there will be consultation with appropriate organisations on topographical knowledge testing as on other aspects of licensing arrangements. The details are for consideration once the necessary legislation is in place.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the pilot schemes being evaluated by his Department to monitor the effect of increased journey times in reducing the volume of private road traffic. [35638]

The Department is not at present conducting a programme of pilot schemes examining this topic. With London Transport, it has studied the reductions in the volume of road traffic when roads happened to be closed or their capacity restricted for a variety of purposes. The results were published on 11 March 1998 in a summary report entitled "Traffic Impact of Highway Capacity Reductions", a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House. The study did not analyse the relationship between increased journey times and the volume of traffic.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what steps he is taking to encourage renewal of rolling stock and to reduce overcrowding on the Wharfedale, Harrogate and Calderdale lines. [35745]

These are matters for the Franchising Director and West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive. On 6 November 1997, I gave the Franchising Director new Objectives, Instructions and Guidance which require him to manage existing franchise agreements in a manner which promotes the interests of the passenger, and to secure a progressive improvement in the quality of rail services. Existing franchise agreements require operators to address expected demand for services and to demonstrate improving levels of customer satisfaction. Our forthcoming White Paper will set out new measures to increase the attractiveness of rail travel.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the potential use of (a) referendums and (b) other forms of public consultation in determining support for the establishment of parish councils. [35703]

The Local Government and Rating Act 1997 provides for the creation of parishes either where there is public support as evidenced by a petition signed by 250 or 10 per cent. of the electorate (whichever is the greater) or as a result of a request by a district council following a parish review. Since the Act has come into force my right hon. Friend has not made any assessment of the potential use of referendums or other forms of public consultation in such reviews.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many applications for the setting up of parish councils he has (a) received, (b) approved and (c) rejected since 1 May 1997; and for what reasons. [35699]

Since 1 May 1997 my right hon. Friend has received 6 requests for new parishes in the form of petitions and two from district councils following parish reviews. To date he has decided that three new parishes should be created; he has yet to decide on the other requests.The three parishes for East Cowes, Beverley and Cottingham were all requested by petition and all fulfil the definitions set out in Section 22 of the Local Government and Rating Act 1997 and Environment Circular 11/97.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in how many cases since 1 May 1997 he has revoked a planning consent; and if he will list them. [35889]

None. My right hon. Friend has, however, used his power under section 100 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 on 5 March 1998 to modify a planning permission to delete class A1 retail use from a planning permission granted on 20 December 1993 by Alnwick District Council for development of a retail/business park on land north east of Willowburn Avenue, Alnwick.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the total sums in bids for transport supplementary grant or credit approval for 1998–99 made by each local authority in England in each of the categories (a) major highway schemes eligible for TSG, (b) major highway schemes not TSG-eligible, (c) structural maintenance on carriageways, (d) structural maintenance on bridges, (e) major public transport projects, (f) minor works: packages, (g) minor works: non packages and (h) minor works: local safety schemes. [35649]

Bids for 1998–99 local transport capital resources are shown in a table, a copy of which has been placed in the Library.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many circus accidents involving (a) lions, (b) tigers and (c) other wild animals have been reported in each year since 1990. [35748]

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) records all accidents at work or in connection with work that result in a fatality, major injury or over-3-day injury. HSE's information systems can identify accidents involving animals as a whole since the operating year 1991–92, the first year where accidents occurring in circuses can be identified. These records show one over-3-day injury to an employee by a circus animal. The species of animal is not identified.The provisions of the Data Protection Act preclude any further detail being provided as it would allow the injured person to be identified.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what calculation he has made of the volumes of low level and intermediate level radioactive wastes that will be stockpiled in the United Kingdom by 2010. [35755]

At 2010, the volume of committed intermediate-level radioactive waste from all sources and when conditioned is estimated to be 136,457m³No estimates are available for the low-level radioactive waste (LLW) in store at 2010. The vast majority of LLW is routinely disposed of and no projections have been made of the small amounts of LLW that are unsuitable for disposal using the current disposal routes.The total volume of radioactive waste of all types, from all sources, including those in store on 1 April 1994 and those predicted to arise thereafter can be found in The 1994 United Kingdom Radioactive Waste Inventory. A copy of the summary called

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how many submissions from (a) the United Kingdom, (b) other European Union countries and (c) other countries were made to the public consultation on the Sellafield MOX plant before the submission period closed. [35753]

The Environment Agency has run two public consultations regarding the application to commission and operate the Sellafield MOX plant. The Environment Agency has provided the following breakdown of the responses it has received.The consultation which ended on 7 April 1997 elicited 88 responses as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much money has been received through the single regeneration budget, by Government office region, each year since its inception. [35913]

The table gives the regional breakdown of funding under the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) since April 1994. The figures exclude expenditure by English Partnerships, which although part of the SRB, receives a national allocation. A forecast figure has been provided for 1997–98.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the impact of the clearance of bracken on local biodiversity. [36055]

The impacts of bracken control have been studied by my Department, as well as by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the statutory conservation agencies and voluntary sector organisations such as Butterfly Conservation. Although bracken can form important habitat for some flora and fauna such as rare butterflies—notably Fritillaries—it is an invasive weed and needs to be considered in terms of the vegetation and faunal communities which it is replacing. It may also displace livestock on to adjacent heather moorland contributing to overgrazing of this habitat. The studies point to a targeted rather than a blanket approach to bracken control, with judicious decisions on a site by site basis taking into account the value of the area for biodiversity and locally agreed management objectives.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) what plans he has for amendments to the Hedgerow Regulations 1997 in relation to matters not covered by the recent consultation; [36054](2) when he will publish the results of the consultation on the Review of Hedgerow Regulations 1997; and what estimate he has made of the proportion of hedges in rural areas which will be exempt from the regulations. [36053]

We expect shortly to receive the report by the group set up to review the Hedgerows Regulations 1997. The Regulations protect important countryside hedgerows from removal through a process of prior notification to the local planning authority. No estimate of the scale of exemptions from the requirement for prior notification under Regulation 6(1) has been made.It is estimated, on the basis of a limited survey carried out by ADAS as part of their hedgerow evaluation system research, that some 20 per cent. of all hedgerows would meet the current statutory criteria defining importance. One of the main tasks of the review group was to look at improving the criteria.Following consideration of the group's recommendations, the Government will announce any revisions they propose to make to the Regulations. Any such proposals would be subject to statutory consultation.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what assessment he has made of the effect on hedgerows of the MAFF proposals to give retirement grants to farmers whose land goes to a larger holding or to forestry. [36056]

On 18 March 1998, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food invited views on whether the Early Retirement Scheme, as provided under Regulation No. 2079/92, should be applied in the United Kingdom.No specific assessment has been made of the effect of the scheme, if introduced, on hedgerows. However, if the land were to go to a larger agricultural holding or to forestry, the requirements of the Hedgerow Regulations 1997 would apply.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions for each year since the creation of the London Docklands Development Corporation, what was the (i) population, (ii) unemployment rate and (iii) employment rate for the area covered by the London Docklands Development Corporation. [36095]

[holding answer 24 March 1998]: These figures are not available on a yearly basis. The figures shown in the Table have been compiled from information available from the 1981 and 1991 Population Censuses and estimates by the London Docklands Development Corporation in 1996 and 1997.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what has been the total financial assistance given to the London Docklands Development Corporation since its inception. [36094]

[holding answer 24 March 1998]: Since the LDDC's creation in 1981, until 31 March 1998 when the Corporation ceases to operate, it will have received a total of £1,859 billion in Grant in Aid support.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the transport projects of value greater than £10 million funded by public money in the area covered by the London Docklands Development Corporation; and what is the total cost for each project for each of the last five years. [36096]

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the responsibilities of the Audit Commission in Scotland; if he will state the (a) location of, (b) running costs of, (c) salary costs of and (d) number of staff based at the HQ of the Audit Commission; what percentage of staff are based in (i) head office, (ii) London and (iii) Scotland; and what percentage of (A) salary and (B) running costs are incurred in (1) London and (2) Scotland. [36107]

[holding answer 24 March 1998]: The Audit Commission's responsibility for audit of local authorities and health service bodies extends only within England and Wales. The headquarters of the Audit Commission is at 1 Vincent Square, London, SW1 2PN. The estimated total running costs of the Audit Commission, including District Audit, for 1997/98 are £71.4m, including salary costs of £46.7m. 150 staff work in headquarters in London and 17 in a sub-office in Bristol. The percentage of staff in headquarters in London is 11.4% and in Bristol 1.2%. The London headquarters account for 8% of salary costs and 5% of running costs. The cost of the work undertaken by district auditors in London is not readily available.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the (a) location of, (b) running costs of, (c) salary costs of and (d) number of staff based at the head office of the BBA, the percentage of staff employed (i) at head office, (ii) in London and (iii) in Scotland, and the percentage of (A) salary and (B) running costs incurred in (1) Scotland and (2) London. [36121]

The British Board of Agrément employs a total of 95 staff, comprising 84 staff (88% of the total) based at its headquarters in Garston, Watford,

I refer the hon. Member to the table. The total estimated final cost of the major projects as illustrated in the Table is £719.3 million.and 11 salesmen and inspectors, who are mobile. No employees are based in either London or Scotland.Projected salary and running costs for 1997–98 are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the responsibilities of the British Board of Agrément in Scotland. [36120]

The British Board of Agrément provides commercial services for the testing and certification of construction products for which there are no recognised product standards. The service is available to manufacturers throughout the UK. The BBA is also appointed by Government as the UK spokesbody in the European Organisation for Technical Approvals and is designated to issue European Technical Approvals to companies, including those in Scotland, which successfully apply for them.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the (a) location of, (b) running costs of, (c) salary costs of and (d) number of staff based at the head office of the Ordnance Survey; and what percentage of (i) salary, (ii) general administration expenditure and (iii) capital expenditure costs relate to (1) London and (2) Scotland. [36118]

Ordnance Survey's headquarters are located in Southampton. It moved to Hampshire from the Tower of London following a fire at the Tower in 1841.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what is the total estimated cost of the Department's transfer from Marsham Street. [36124]

The latest estimated costs of relocating staff from 2 Marsham Street and satellite accommodation to Eland House and Ashdown House is £67.4 million and to Great Minster House is £23.1 million.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 18 March 1998, Official Report, column 608, what percentage of his Core Policy and Administration Group is based in (a) London and (b) Scotland. [36119]

At 1 January 1998, the percentage of the Headquarters element of my Department based in (a) London and (b) Scotland is 80 per cent. and 1 per cent. respectively.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will list the (a) locations of, (b) running costs of, (c) salary costs of and (d) number of staff based at the head office of the (i) Commission for the New Towns, (ii) Countryside Commission, (iii) English Nature, (iv) English Partnerships, (v) Environment Agency, (vi) Health and Safety Commission and Executive, (vii) Housing Corporation, (viii) Rural Development Commission, (ix) London Pension Fund Authority, (x) National Forestry Commission, (xi) Local Government Commission for England, (xii) Local government Residency Board for England and (xiii) Joint Nature Conservation Committee; and if he will state the percentage of total (1) staff based in, (2) salary costs and (3) running costs for each body which relate to London. [36117]Angela Eagle: The latest available figures are as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, pursuant to his answer of 18 March 1998, Official Report, column 608, what is the total area of common land in each National

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will be publishing in draft the direction to the Local Government Commission for England, in accordance with section 7 of the Greater London (Referendum) Act 1998. [36568]

A draft direction to the Commission has today been placed in the Library of the House.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the means by which the water abstraction licensing system in England and Wales can be used to deal with environmentally damaging water abstractions. [36418]

Where water abstractions are damaging sites specially protected under the EC Habitats and Birds Directives, or by designation as SSSIs, the Environment Agency should seek voluntary agreements for reductions with the abstractors wherever possible. Where that is not possible, the Environment Agency should use its existing powers, on a clearly prioritised basis, to vary or revoke the relevant licences, and be prepared to pay compensation where necessary. As part of their review of Park on which payments are made under agri-environmental schemes; and under which schemes those payments are made. [35781]

The total area of common land in each National Park on which payments are made under agri-environmental schemes, and the schemes under which those payments are made, are set out in the table.the water abstraction licensing system, the Government are considering future compensation arrangements and a consultation paper on those and other proposals will be published within the next few weeks.

To ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) what efforts her Department is taking to ensure payment of the winter assistance to pensioners to pensioner households in (a) tenement blocks and (b) blocks of flats; [35420](2) what estimate she has made of the percentage of the total winter assistance payments which

Winter Fuel payments are one of a number of initiatives the Government have taken to help vulnerable people, especially the elderly, keep warm in the winter. A total of £400 million has been committed for this winter and next, to help pensioners with fuel bills to pay. This is the first time any Government have provided additional help with heating costs to all pensioners receiving a Retirement Pension or one of a number of other qualifying benefits.The making of this winter's payments has been an enormous and unprecedented exercise. In order to establish all eligible pensioners, correctly identify pensioner households, and determine the amount each should receive, it was necessary to correlate data in around fifteen million computer records, involving fifteen qualifying benefits, across nine computer systems. Overall, almost ten million payments will have been made to over seven million pensioner households by the end of March.The administration of winter fuel payments is a matter for Peter Mathison, Chief Executive of the Benefits Agency. He will write to the hon. Member.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the present number of employees of the Funding Agency for Schools in Darlington. [359401

The total number of employees of the Funding Agency for Schools based in Darlington as at 28 February 1998 was 158. Of this figure, 88 staff are on permanent contracts, 32 staff are on loan from other government departments, 24 staff are on fixed terms contracts and 14 staff are either casual or long term temporary staff.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what redundancy arrangements have been made for the staff of the Funding Agency for Schools following the passage of the School Standards and Framework Bill. [35941]