asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will appoint a Minister of Disarmament and whether they will list those governments which have appointed such a Minister.

No. We are satisfied with the present arrangements whereby my right honourable and learned friend takes the lead on policies affecting arms control and disarmament matters, with support from my honourable friend, the Member for Shoreham, as part of his wider ministerial portfolio.Constitutional practices vary widely from country to country. There is a complex variety of ministerial, ambassadorial and executive disarmament appointments. We are not aware of any Western or other government that has appointed a Minister whose only responsibility is disarmament.The Director of the United States Arms Control and Disarmament Agency holds ministerial rank.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are aware that Commonwealth citizens settled in the United Kingdom before 1971 are entitled to register as British citizens for a fee of £55.00, whereas citizens of Gibraltar with a similar entitlement pay a fee of only £5.00; whether they will accept that a substantial number of Commonwealth citizens settled in this country and wishing to apply for citizenship do not do so because they cannot afford the £55.00 fee; and whether they will therefore consider reducing this registration fee to that paid by Gibraltar citizens so that in future anyone from the Commonwealth entitled to apply for registration and wishing to do so may do so irrespective of his or her financial situation.

Section 5 and Section 7 of the British Nationality Act 1981 provide respectively for the registration as British citizens by entitlement of citizenship of Gibraltar and of Commonwealth citizens and citizens of the Republic of Ireland settled here before 1st January 1973. Apart from minor clerical work done in this country, all the work of processing an application is carried out in Gibraltar. The Government of Gibraltar levies a local charge, currently £5, for the service. The processing of an application for entitlement registration from a Commonwealth citizen or citizen of the Republic of Ireland is done entirely in this country and the fee of £55 recovers the average cost of processing it.The possibility of reducing or waiving fees for particular categories of applicants has been considered many times, but cannot be implemented as there are at present insuperable obstacles of cost and administrative burdens.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they propose to extend to the Metropolitan Police inspection by HM Inspector of Constabulary.

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary has no plans to extend the functions of HM Inspectorate of Constabulary in this way. However, there are regular contacts between HM Inspectors and the Metropolitan Police and its Inspectorate, and we have encouraged closer links as a means of improving efficiency and spreading good practice.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What definition of "the United Kingdom" will the Committee of Inquiry set up "to advise the Secretary of State for the Environment within two years on the future handling of geographic information in the United Kingdom "use and how are the outer limits of "the United Kingdom" on the Continental Shelf, at sea, and in the air, to be established.

The interests of the committee in the handling of geographic information will relate to the land, sea and air space of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It will be for the committee to determine the scope and territorial limits of its studies. The main focus of its work is, however, expected to be on land-related information.

asked Her Majesty's Government:On what grounds was it decided that the new research vessel, "Charles Darwin" (which is designed to conduct research in the world's oceans into geology, geophysics, oceanography, hydrology, biology and meterology) should not be ice-strengthened, which effectively puts large areas of the North Atlantic permanently out of reach for her; who made this decision; and what steps are now proposed to rectify this mistake.

The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which owns the RRS "Charles Darwin", was responsible for ensuring that the vessel was designed and constructed to meet the council's perceived marine scientific requirements. I understand that, in deciding the design criteria, the council took the view that the additional cost of ice-strengthening the vessel could not be justified: the capital cost and the additional running costs would have had to be accommodated within its grant-in-aid: three of its six ocean-going research ships are already ice-strengthened. I further understand the council now considers that decision to have been the correct one and has no intention of altering the RRS "Charles Darwin" so as to incorporate ice-strengthening.It is the practice of my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education and Science to pay the NERC its grant-in-aid without direction as to how it should be spent.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they will make a statement about the future administration of the Government's scheme for accepting works of art in lieu of tax and for indemnifying owners of works of art who lend to appropriate bodies for public exhibition.

The acceptance of works of art in lieu of tax and the provision of indemnity cover for public exhibitions call for detailed casework and for consultations with the Government's expert advisers. As from 1st April 1985, it has been decided that these activities can be most effectively co-ordinated by the Museums and Galleries Commission. At present the commission provides advice on the allocation to museums and galleries of works of art which the Government accept in lieu of tax; it also gives advice on the public interest and security aspects of the indemnities for which I am responsible as Minister for the Arts. From 1st April the commission will take responsibility for the day-to-day administration of acceptances of works of art in lieu of tax, and for the indemnity scheme operated by the Minister for the Arts and the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales. The policy and decision-making responsibilities of Ministers for these activities will remain unchanged.After 1st April applications for indemnities should be sent direct to the Museums and Galleries Commission: offers of works of art and other heritage property should continue to be made through the Capital Taxes Office in the first instance.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What charges are levied for light dues, and on what basis, at the following ports: Southampton, Milford Haven, Le Havre, Rotterdam and Hamburg.

Vessels calling at ports in the United Kingdom are required to pay light dues which are calculated in accordance with regulations made under the Merchant Shipping (Mercantile Marine Fund) Act 1898. The amount charged on a particular ship depends on a number of factors including the type of ship, its tonnage, the nature of its voyage and the frequency of its visits to United Kingdom ports. The structure of these dues is currently under review.There are no charges for light dues in France, Holland and West Germany.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have discussed the implications for the British shipping industry, especially in relation to ice-strengthened shipping, of the anticipated increase in trade between Britain and the Soviet Union, particularly in the light of the economic development of Siberia, which largely depends on sea and river transport.

My department is in regular contact with the British shipping industry concerning opportunities that may exist to provide additional shipping services between the United Kingdom and the USSR. The Anglo-Soviet Joint Maritime Commission has also established a working party to consider ways of increasing the opportunities for United Kingdom flag vessels in trades not covered by existing commercial agreements.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why "public works vehicles" are exempt from the general requirement to use tachographs.

Article 4.4 of EC Regulation 543/69 exempts from the EC drivers hours regime, and thus from the requirement to fit and use a tachograph, certain vehicles providing public services, on the grounds that they are not in competition with private sector operators.A Commission proposal to amend the regulation, including this article, is under discussion.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Why several categories of vehicles operated by local authorities are exempt from excise duty under the Act of 1971.

The Vehicles (Excise) Act 1971 specifically exempts three classes of local authority vehicles from payment of VED: those kept for fire brigade purposes, watering vehicles, and tower wagons. The two latter are used solely to maintain the roads, and it has long been held that it would be circular to charge VED on easily distinguishable vehicles whose operation forms part of highway costs. Local authority fire brigade vehicles have remained exempt since 1920, when it seems likely they were excluded for humanitarian reasons.