asked Her Majesty's Government:When they plan to release more records of the wartime Special Operations Executive.

The next batch of SOE records for release, covering the Balkans, will be the largest so far. They have been transferred to the Public Record Office, and will be opened on 1 July 1997. Further SOE records will be released in due course.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What proportion of the United Kingdom's arms exports have not been paid for within (a) 6, (b) 12, (c) 18 and (d) 24 months of delivery, or other periods for which figures are available.

This information is not held centrally. The details are a commercial matter between exporters and their customers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:To what extent British arms exports (including ammunition) in the last five years have been routed through third parties, in order to evade export controls and charges of breaching international and humanitarian law.

We are not aware of any evidence suggesting that, in the last five years, any arms or ammunition were exported from the UK and diverted to an end-user in circumstances in breach of UK export controls. However, the investigation and prosecution of alleged breaches of UK export controls is a matter for HM Customs & Excise and anyone in possession of information which might suggest that offences have been committed should make it available to them; in the last five years there has been one prosecution where the company concerned had attempted to evade UK controls by exporting controlled aircraft parts to Switzerland from where they would have been diverted to Iran. The risk of diversion to third countries is taken into account in considering export licence applications, and we are committed to strengthening monitoring of the end-use of defence exports to prevent diversion and to ensure that exported equipment is used only on the conditions under which the export licence has been granted.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What licences for what quantities of arms exports to Turkey and Indonesia have been issued but have so far not yet been taken up.

My department does not maintain records of the actual exports of goods authorised by individual export licences.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are satisfied that the procedure for contacting the Child Benefit Centre by telephone is working well.

One of our key aims is to improve the service provided to claimants and other customers. Queries on Benefits Agency operational matters are the responsibility of Peter Mathison, its Chief Executive. He will write to the noble Lord.

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "we will work towards the elimination of mixed sex wards", what proportion of patients are currently treated in such wards; and by how much they hope to have reduced that proportion in three years' time.

There are no national figures available on the proportion of patients currently treated in mixed sex accommodation. However, the results of a survey commissioned by the National Health Service Executive in two health regions were published earlier this year in a Report of a survey on mixed sex accommodation in hospitals. A copy is available in the Library. Further action is being considered following a recent exercise with health authorities to establish target dates for meeting the objectives set out in guidance on mixed sex wards issued to the NHS in January.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How many requests for extradition from the United Kingdom are outstanding; how many persons are currently held in British prisons as a result; and whether they will consider setting time limits by which foreign states must produce relevant evidence.

As at 20 June 1997, there were outstanding requests for extradition from the United Kingdom in respect of 174 people. Of these, 69 people had been arrested on the basis of the extradition request.Twenty-eight people are currently held in prisons in England and Wales as a result of extradition requests.This figure does not cover requests for extradition from the Republic of Ireland. Such requests are dealt with under the procedures laid down in the Backing of Warrants (Republic of Ireland) Act 1965. Figures for those held in custody under this arrangement are not held centrally.Statutory time limits already exist. Section 9 and Schedule 1, paragraph 5, of the Extradition Act 1989 allow the magistrate to fix a period, in accordance with the relevant extradition arrangement, after which a person will be discharged from custody if no authority to proceed or order to proceed has been issued. Authorities to proceed and orders to proceed are issued once supporting documentation has been received from the requesting State and are formal invitations to Bow Street Magistrates' Court to consider the request against the fugitive. The level of supporting documentation depends on the bilateral or multilateral extradition arrangement with the requesting State. The magistrate has the discretion, in certain circumstances, to extend those time limits. Once an authority to proceed or order to proceed has been issued, extradition cases pass to the courts. It is open to them to request further information, or to set deadlines. Under Section 16 and Schedule 1, paragraph 10, to the Act, there are also statutory time limits on the time taken for a decision by the Secretary of State on surrender of a fugitive once the case has been to him for final decision.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the purpose of referendums is a means of consulting the people or gaining their consent upon the issue at hand.

The precise purpose of referendums will depend on the issue in question; but in all cases there will be elements both of consultation and also of seeking consent.Before the proposed referendums for Scotland and Wales are held, the Government intend to publish their devolution proposals in White Papers. The people of Scotland and Wales will be asked whether they support the Government's proposals. If they do, substantive legislation will be brought forward.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they propose to publish the joint Home Office and Treasury review of police and fire service pensions.

My right honourable friend the Home Secretary will be giving early consideration to taking forward the reviews of the police and fire pension schemes, including the question of publication and a consultation exercise based on the reviews.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Further to the Answer given by Baroness Hayman on 17 June (

We have not yet seen the Commission proposal. Our negotiating stance will depend on the detailed proposals, but will consider the interests of passengers, operators and manufacturers.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Who is responsible for monitoring standing passenger congestion on trains and what is the scope and frequency for such checks.

London commuter services are subject to objective measurement of overcrowding, and must comply with specified standards. The franchise operator will be required to carry out at least one passenger count each year on the relevant services in a manner approved by the Franchising Director. Following any such count, the franchise operator must inform the Franchising Director of his expectations of demand, and of his general plans for peak period timetables and train plans which would enable the standards to be met, assuming similar demand levels over the following 18 months.In addition, all franchise operators have a general obligation to use reasonable endeavours to provide sufficient capacity for the carriage of passengers without excessive overcrowding.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Which voluntary organisations and non-departmental public bodies have been notified since 1 May 1997 of the Government's intention to cease their funding.

Since 1 May 1997, the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust, a voluntary organisation, has had its government funding withdrawn. The grant would have been worth £11,700 in 1997–98. In addition, since I May, the following advisory non-departmental public bodies have been wound up.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the cost to public funds of their political advisers within government, and how such cost compares with that under the previous administration.

Information on the total salary bill will be provided when agreement has been reached with each individual on their employment terms.

asked Her Majesty's Government:When they expect the Atomic Weapons Establishment sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield to be licensed under the Nuclear Installations Act 1965.

I am pleased to announce that the Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations has granted a licence, effective from 1 July 1997, to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) management contractor Hunting-BRAE Ltd. to operate the AWE sites at Aldermaston and Burghfield. The two sites will thus be brought within the same regulatory regime as civil nuclear sites and will be regularly inspected by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. This will provide independent assurance that nuclear related activities at AWE are carried out safely and pose no threat to the workforce, the public or the environment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What was the outcome of the Agriculture Council held in Luxembourg on 23–25 June.

The Council reached agreement, Spain voting against, on a package of measures covering the CAP support prices and aids for the 1997–98 marketing year, the penalties to be applied when arable base areas are exceeded, and the rate of set-aside to apply to the 1998 crop.On prices and aids, the agreement largely maintained the status quo, in advance of negotiations on reform of the major regimes, which are anticipated to start in the autumn. However, monthly increments for cereals intervention and sugar storage refunds were cut by around 9 per cent. to reflect interest rate changes. The Council agreed to address the important question of over-compensation of arable farmers for past support price cuts in the context of the forthcoming discussions on reform of the arable regime.In response to requests from my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and several other Ministers, the Council agreed in principle that the set-aside rate for the 1998–99 marketing year should be maintained at 5 per cent. It invited the Commission to submit a proposal accordingly, as soon as possible. The proposal to amend the regulations concerning the arable penalties system was adopted with minor amendments—notably to suspend the application of penalty set-aside for a further year—and requests from several member states for measures which would have weakened or complicated the system were successfully resisted.My right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food argued for, and secured, a further commitment from the Commission to propose new measures to safeguard the welfare standards of breeding pigs without requiring them to be unloaded at staging points during journeys. This will help secure the high health status of these valuable animals when they are transported on long international journeys.On BSE, my right honourable friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food reported to the Council the measures he has recently announced to the House following SEAC's advice that the controls on specified bovine material should be extended to imports and that the UK should extend its controls on sheep and goat offals. In reply, Commissioner Fischler supported his call for a Community-wide solution to this problem and urged member states to support the measures he has recently tabled on specified risk material.The Council also unanimously endorsed an Italian application for approval of a state aid to agricultural co-operative members and adopted by qualified majority (Germany voting against) a directive concerning maximum pesticide residue levels in food.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they have access to the data held by the insurance industry on the number of claims made against subsidence and, if so, whether they will publish it.

Figures for individual claims made are not available. The following table was compiled by the Subsidence Claims Advisory Bureau from insurance industry figures and shows the total value of subsidence claims from 1975.

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "the explicit objective of a Labour Government will be to raise the trend rate of growth", by what method the trend rate of growth is established and what it is now.

The trend rate of growth can be defined as the rate which the economy could sustain without leading to rising inflation. Estimating the trend rate of growth cannot be an exact science, but a report by the National Audit Office, published on Thursday 19 June, endorsed an assumption of 2¼ per cent. trend growth per annum as, "broadly consistent with past experience, with the range of published estimates of the long-term rate of growth in the economy, and with assessments of the medium-term prospect for growth".

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that one of the underlying causes of inflation, of low growth and of unemployment is "too much economic instability", how they measure economic instability; and how much instability there was at the end of the last financial year or, if more appropriate, during the previous three years.

The UK economy has suffered from a high degree of instability, as illustrated by swings in the economy over time. Since 1979, the UK has experienced the two deepest and longest recessions in the post-war period. From peak to trough, output fell by 5¼ per cent. in the early 1980s, and by 3¾per cent. in the early 1990s. Over the past 20 years, fluctuations in GDP growth have been larger in the UK than in any other G7 economy apart from Canada, and over the past 25 years inflation has been more volatile than in any other G7 country.

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that "there are over one million fewer jobs in Britain than in 1990", by what measure that is true; and what is the current level.

ONS produces two measures of employment. The workforce in employment survey of employers, which counts jobs, and the labour force survey of households, which counts persons. At March 1997 the Workforce in Employment in Great Britain stood at 25,530,000, a net change of -1,025,000 jobs since June 1990. This contrasts with the Labour Force Survey, which stood at 25,985,000 persons in employment at Winter 1996–97, a net change of -436,000 persons since Spring 1990. All figures have been adjusted for seasonal variation and are the latest figures for employment available.

asked Her Majesty's Government:With reference to the statement in the Labour Party manifesto that one of the underlying causes of inflation, of low growth and of unemployment is "too narrow an industrial base", how they measure the width of the industrial base, and what that measurement was at the most recent time for which figures are available.

There is no unique measure of the industrial base. The Government aim to broaden the wealth creating base by pursuing policies which will create a better skilled workforce and a modernised infrastructure, encourage investment, help nurture small firms and new technologies, and attack long-term and youth unemployment.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they intend that, in the long term, sixth form colleges and schools should be funded at the same rate in respect of their A-level students.

The Government's overall aim is to ensure high quality provision that meets the needs of all students age 16–19 in an efficient and effective manner. The Government are continuing research into the comparative funding costs of different education and training routes for 16–19 year-old students.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether there is sufficient provision of youth clubs and similar facilities in the UK, and, if not, what they propose to do about it.

Local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland are responsible for the provision of youth services in their areas. Her Majesty's Government are taking forward proposals for an audit of youth service provision in England and are considering a similar audit in Wales. This will provide definitive, up-to-date information to inform central and local government's strategic long-term plans for the service. There are no plans for a similar audit in Scotland, but Scotland has a strong youth sector with a wide range of facilities in most communities run either by the statutory or voluntary sector. Youth work provision within the statutory sector is reviewed on a regular basis. In Northern Ireland the responsibility for ensuring adequate facilities of this sort rests with the education and library boards.

asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether they are content for some universities to charge top-up fees; and if so, how they propose that poorer children should be enabled to pay such fees.

It would be premature for any university to introduce top-up fees in advance of the report of the Dearing Inquiry into Higher Education and the follow-up to the report. We shall be considering very carefully the recommendations of the report on the future development and funding of higher education, having regard to our policy to widen opportunities for all individuals to enable them to fulfil their intellectual and personal potential and to engage in learning throughout life.

asked Her Majesty's Government:How they intend to promote the teaching of communication skills in schools.

The National curriculum will continue as the main vehicle for developing communication skills pre-16. A communications unit (module) is mandatory in Part One GNVQ, currently available on a pilot basis in some schools for 14–16 year-olds.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What plans they have to include the overall level of school balances for an individual LEA within any future grant settlement or standard spending assessment for that authority;In view of the statements of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that there will be no changes to the spending allocations for education, whether they anticipate changing the current legislation (the Education Act 1988) to allow themselves to use the balances held by individual schools to help fund the reduction in class sizes for five, six and seven-year-olds; andWhether they foresee any occasion where they would be prepared to use the balances currently held by individual schools to support LEA education budgets.

We have no immediate plans on these issues, but we shall review all aspects of the department's spending priorities, including school funding methodologies, as part of the arrangements announced on 11 June by my right honourable friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

asked Her Majesty's Government:What is the level of balances held by:

The information requested is not yet available for 1996–97. The following table sets out the corresponding information for 1995–96 in respect of primary and secondary schools maintained by local education authorities, in England.